Secondary Metabolism in Plants and Plant Cells

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 March 2022) | Viewed by 11928

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo, Finland
Interests: plant biotechnology; secondary metabolism; genome editing; metabolic engineering; medicinal plants; natural compounds

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo, Finland

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Throughout the history of humankind, plants have served as a crucial source of nutrition, health, and well-being for humans. Still today, plants form an important part of healing and prevention of diseases, as according to World Health Organization, 80% of the world’s population is using plant-derived medicines as a form of primary healthcare. This poses a clear threat to plant biodiversity, since the majority of medicinal plants used currently are collected from the wild, and only a fraction are cultivated plants. There is around 400,000 plant species in the world, and estimates of the numbers of secondary metabolites produced and characterized by them vary from a couple of hundreds of thousands up to a million. Secondary compounds are historically called secondary to differentiate them from primary compounds, which are directly involved in plant growth, development, and reproduction. However, secondary metabolites are crucial for plant survival when competing in surrounding environments in various ways—fighting against herbivores and pathogens, an attracting pollinators and protection against harmful radiation, to mention a few. Largely, however, it is still obscure why and how plants produce such diversified chemicals and what their functions are in plants reflecting evolutional events. Current technologies allow broader, more detailed, and more rapid studies of phytochemistry through novel functional genomics tools, but there is a long way ahead with a huge diversity of plants. To date, only a few hundred whole genome sequences of vascular plant species have been published, covering less than a 0.5 percent of total plant species. As the costs of genome sequencing are coming down, the major bottlenecks in plant genome studies are still in data processing, assembly, and annotation. The question is, how can one further apply this knowledge to biotechnology? Only through the knowhow of the biosynthesis processes of these compounds in plants is there a possibility to create a rational platform for sustainable use for plant secondary metabolites. Unraveling the biosynthetic pathways of plant secondary metabolites, combined with advanced metabolic engineering tools and synthetic biology approaches, plant secondary metabolite pathways have also been successfully incorporated to microbial hosts. 

In this Special Issue, we welcome original research papers, methods, reviews, and perspectives related to plant secondary metabolism in general, and particularly covering the topics of:

  • Secondary metabolite biosynthesis;
  • Biotechnological and industrial production of secondary metabolites;
  • Secondary compounds in biotransformation and phytotransformation;
  • Plant functional genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics;
  • Combinatorial biochemistry for plant secondary metabolite production.

Dr. Suvi T. Häkkinen
Dr. Kirsi-Marja Oksman-Caldentey
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 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 metabolism
  • secondary compounds
  • biosynthesis
  • phytotransformation
  • medicinal plants
  • functional genomics
  • genome editing
  • metabolic engineering

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

20 pages, 4328 KiB  
Article
Molecular Characterization, Expression Analysis of Carotenoid, Xanthophyll, Apocarotenoid Pathway Genes, and Carotenoid and Xanthophyll Accumulation in Chelidonium majus L.
by Ramaraj Sathasivam, Hyeon Ji Yeo, Chang Ha Park, Minsol Choi, Haejin Kwon, Ji Eun Sim, Sang Un Park and Jae Kwang Kim
Plants 2021, 10(8), 1753; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10081753 - 23 Aug 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3718
Abstract
Chelidonium majus L. is a perennial herbaceous plant that has various medicinal properties. However, the genomic information about its carotenoid biosynthesis pathway (CBP), xanthophyll biosynthesis pathway (XBP), and apocarotenoid biosynthesis pathway (ABP) genes were limited. Thus, the CBP, XBP, and ABP genes of [...] Read more.
Chelidonium majus L. is a perennial herbaceous plant that has various medicinal properties. However, the genomic information about its carotenoid biosynthesis pathway (CBP), xanthophyll biosynthesis pathway (XBP), and apocarotenoid biosynthesis pathway (ABP) genes were limited. Thus, the CBP, XBP, and ABP genes of C. majus were identified and analyzed. Among the 15 carotenoid pathway genes identified, 11 full and 4 partial open reading frames were determined. Phylogenetic analysis of these gene sequences showed higher similarity with higher plants. Through 3D structural analysis and multiple alignments, several distinct conserved motifs were identified, including dinucleotide binding motif, carotene binding motif, and aspartate or glutamate residues. Quantitative RT-PCR showed that CBP, XBP, and ABP genes were expressed in a tissue-specific manner; the highest expression levels were achieved in flowers, followed by those in leaves, roots, and stems. The HPLC analysis of the different organs showed the presence of eight different carotenoids. The highest total carotenoid content was found in leaves, followed by that in flowers, stems, and roots. This study provides information on the molecular mechanisms involved in CBP, XBP, and ABP genes, which might help optimize the carotenoid production in C. majus. The results could also be a basis of further studies on the molecular genetics and functional analysis of CBP, XBP, and ABP genes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Secondary Metabolism in Plants and Plant Cells)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

38 pages, 3334 KiB  
Review
Carotenoids and Apocarotenoids in Planta: Their Role in Plant Development, Contribution to the Flavour and Aroma of Fruits and Flowers, and Their Nutraceutical Benefits
by Andrew J. Simkin
Plants 2021, 10(11), 2321; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10112321 - 28 Oct 2021
Cited by 52 | Viewed by 6884
Abstract
Carotenoids and apocarotenoids are diverse classes of compounds found in nature and are important natural pigments, nutraceuticals and flavour/aroma molecules. Improving the quality of crops is important for providing micronutrients to remote communities where dietary variation is often limited. Carotenoids have also been [...] Read more.
Carotenoids and apocarotenoids are diverse classes of compounds found in nature and are important natural pigments, nutraceuticals and flavour/aroma molecules. Improving the quality of crops is important for providing micronutrients to remote communities where dietary variation is often limited. Carotenoids have also been shown to have a significant impact on a number of human diseases, improving the survival rates of some cancers and slowing the progression of neurological illnesses. Furthermore, carotenoid-derived compounds can impact the flavour and aroma of crops and vegetables and are the origin of important developmental, as well as plant resistance compounds required for defence. In this review, we discuss the current research being undertaken to increase carotenoid content in plants and research the benefits to human health and the role of carotenoid derived volatiles on flavour and aroma of fruits and vegetables. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Secondary Metabolism in Plants and Plant Cells)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop