1. Strategies to Modulate Specialized Metabolism in Mediterranean Crops: From Molecular Aspects to Field.
- Author
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Balestrini R, Brunetti C, Cammareri M, Caretto S, Cavallaro V, Cominelli E, De Palma M, Docimo T, Giovinazzo G, Grandillo S, Locatelli F, Lumini E, Paolo D, Patanè C, Sparvoli F, Tucci M, and Zampieri E
- Subjects
- Crops, Agricultural growth & development, Flavonoids metabolism, Humans, Mediterranean Region, Metabolic Networks and Pathways genetics, Phytochemicals metabolism, Plant Diseases genetics, Plant Diseases microbiology, Stress, Physiological drug effects, Terpenes metabolism, Biological Products metabolism, Crops, Agricultural metabolism, Disease Resistance genetics, Secondary Metabolism genetics
- Abstract
Plant specialized metabolites (SMs) play an important role in the interaction with the environment and are part of the plant defense response. These natural products are volatile, semi-volatile and non-volatile compounds produced from common building blocks deriving from primary metabolic pathways and rapidly evolved to allow a better adaptation of plants to environmental cues. Specialized metabolites include terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, glucosinolates, tannins, resins, etc. that can be used as phytochemicals, food additives, flavoring agents and pharmaceutical compounds. This review will be focused on Mediterranean crop plants as a source of SMs, with a special attention on the strategies that can be used to modulate their production, including abiotic stresses, interaction with beneficial soil microorganisms and novel genetic approaches.
- Published
- 2021
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