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Plants
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Molecular Mechanisms of Biosynthesis and Regulation of Plant Secondary Metabolites
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Molecular Mechanisms of Biosynthesis and Regulation of Plant Secondary Metabolites

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2024) | Viewed by 2372

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Xinhua Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Interests: plant secondary metabolites; environmental adaptation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plant secondary metabolites are produced within the plants for protection against environmental stresses, including flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, etc. They have been widely used as pharmaceuticals, food additives, etc., for a long time. In recent years, the ecological functions of plant secondary metabolites have gained attention. Understanding the molecular mechanisms pertaining to the biosynthesis and regulation of plant secondary metabolites could help to improve the content of metabolites or create valuable plants with enhanced resistance using molecular breeding. This Special Issue of Plants will highlight the function, regulation, and diversity of plant secondary metabolites, as well as their roles in the interactions of plants and their environment.

Dr. Xinhua Zhang
Guest Editor

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plant secondary metabolite
  • biosynthesis
  • regulation
  • signal molecule

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1982 KiB  
Article
Transcriptome and Metabolome Profiling Provide Insights into Flavonoid Biosynthesis and the Mechanism of Color Formation in Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim.
by Lin Yang, Lu Tian, Jingwei Shi and Anzhi Wei
Plants 2025, 14(4), 558; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14040558 - 12 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 811
Abstract
The color of Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim. (Z. bungeanum) is a key quality indicator and a factor limiting the development of its industry. However, the underlying mechanisms governing color formation remain largely unexplored. In this study, an integrative analysis of transcriptome and [...] Read more.
The color of Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim. (Z. bungeanum) is a key quality indicator and a factor limiting the development of its industry. However, the underlying mechanisms governing color formation remain largely unexplored. In this study, an integrative analysis of transcriptome and metabolome profiles was conducted across four developmental stages to elucidate the color formation mechanism in Z. bungeanum. A total of 137 flavonoids were identified as the fruits ripened, with high levels of differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs), including tricetin and (-)-epigallocatechin, which were strongly associated with color formation. This suggests their significant contribution to the pigmentation process. Nine differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified as candidate genes involved in color development. Additionally, 15 transcription factors (TFs) (12 MYB and 3 bHLH) exhibited expression patterns similar to those of structural genes in the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway, indicating their role in regulating flavonoid synthesis. The bioinformatics analysis of three key flavonoid synthesis genes—ZbCHI, ZbFLS, and ZbANR—revealed that all three proteins exhibit hydrophobic structures without transmembrane domains. Among them, ZbANR possesses signal peptide regions, whereas ZbCHI and ZbFLS do not. Subcellular localization predictions suggest that ZbCHI is most likely localized in the chloroplast, ZbFLS in the cytoplasm, and ZbANR in the membrane. Functional analyses revealed that their transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana (N. benthamiana) increased the flavonoid content, with ZbANR overexpression producing a distinct white phenotype in the plants. This study enriches transcriptomic data and provides a comprehensive understanding of flavonoid metabolism and the molecular basis of color formation in Z. bungeanum, offering a valuable theoretical foundation for future breeding programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms of Biosynthesis and Regulation of Plant Secondary Metabolites)
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15 pages, 9078 KiB  
Article
Comparative Lipidomics Analysis Provides New Insights into the Metabolic Basis of Color Formation in Green Cotton Fiber
by Tongtong Li, Congcong Zheng, Jianfei Wu, Wei Xu, Tongdi Yan, Junchen Liu, Li Zhang, Zhengmin Tang, Yupeng Fan, Huihui Guo and Fanchang Zeng
Plants 2024, 13(21), 3063; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13213063 - 31 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1091
Abstract
Green fiber (GF) is a naturally colored fiber. A limited understanding of its color formation mechanism restricts the improvement of colored cotton quality. This experiment used upland cotton green fiber germplasm 1-4560 and genetic inbred line TM-1; the lipid profiles of green fibers [...] Read more.
Green fiber (GF) is a naturally colored fiber. A limited understanding of its color formation mechanism restricts the improvement of colored cotton quality. This experiment used upland cotton green fiber germplasm 1-4560 and genetic inbred line TM-1; the lipid profiles of green fibers at 30 (white stage) and 35 days post-anthesis (DPA) (early greening stage), as well as those of TM-1 at the same stages, were revealed. Among the 109 differential types of lipids (DTLs) unique to GF, the content of phosphatidylserine PS (16:0_18:3) was significantly different at 30 and 35 DPA. It is speculated that this lipid is crucial for the pigment accumulation and color formation process of green fibers. The 197 DTLs unique to TM-1 may be involved in white fiber (WF) development. Among the shared DTLs in GF35 vs. GF30 and WF35 vs. WF30, sulfoquinovosyldiacyl-glycerol SQDG (18:1_18:1) displays a significant difference in the content change between green fibers and white fibers, potentially affecting color formation through changes in content. The enriched metabolic pathways in both comparison groups are relatively conserved. In the most significantly enriched glycerophospholipid metabolic pathway, 1-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (C04230) only appears in white cotton. This indicates differences in the metabolic pathways between white and green fibers, potentially related to different mechanisms of color formation and fiber development. These findings provide a new theoretical basis for studying cotton fiber development and offer important insights into the specific mechanism of green fiber color formation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms of Biosynthesis and Regulation of Plant Secondary Metabolites)
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