Secondary Metabolite Biosynthesis in Plants

Dear Colleagues,

Secondary metabolites in plants are a diverse group of organic compounds that are not directly involved in the basic metabolic processes of growth and reproduction but play crucial roles in plant defense, signaling, and interaction with the environment. These metabolites are typically produced through specialized biosynthetic pathways and include alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and phenolic compounds. Numerous studies have contributed to the biosynthetic pathway of secondary metabolites, genes encoding key enzymes of the pathway, and regulatory mechanisms of secondary metabolism. This enables the production of secondary metabolites through metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. Recently, this research field has rapidly expanded, and significant progress has been made. This enables the cultivation, breeding, and protection of plants through new technologies. This Special Issue of Plants is devoted to publishing original research and review articles on plant studies, highlighting recent advances in the biosynthesis and regulatory mechanisms of secondary metabolites, particularly significant discoveries from intensive studies, and the development and application of novel technologies.

• Topics of this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, epigenomics, and metabolomics of plants;
• Biosynthetic pathway of secondary metabolites;
• Key enzyme genes involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites;
• Transcription factor and regulatory network in plants;
• Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology of secondary metabolites;
• Synthesis, transport, and storage of secondary metabolites;
• Molecular mechanisms of miRNA and their application in plants;
• Application of high-throughput sequencing technologies;
• Databases associated with the biosynthesis and regulation of secondary metabolites;
• Novel technologies and strategies for secondary metabolism studies, such as single-cell transcriptomics, spatial transcriptomics, Pan-genome, CRISPR-Cas, et al.

Dr. Qi Tang
Dr. Rufeng Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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