Plant Secondary Metabolites—Central Regulators Against Abiotic and Biotic Stresses
As global climates shift, plants are increasingly exposed to biotic and abiotic stresses that adversely affect their growth and development, ultimately reducing agricultural productivity. To counter these stresses, plants produce secondary metabolites (SMs), which are critical biochemical and essent...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Metabolites |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/15/4/276 |
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| author | Ameer Khan Farah Kanwal Sana Ullah Muhammad Fahad Leeza Tariq Muhammad Tanveer Altaf Asad Riaz Guoping Zhang |
| author_facet | Ameer Khan Farah Kanwal Sana Ullah Muhammad Fahad Leeza Tariq Muhammad Tanveer Altaf Asad Riaz Guoping Zhang |
| author_sort | Ameer Khan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As global climates shift, plants are increasingly exposed to biotic and abiotic stresses that adversely affect their growth and development, ultimately reducing agricultural productivity. To counter these stresses, plants produce secondary metabolites (SMs), which are critical biochemical and essential compounds that serve as primary defense mechanisms. These diverse compounds, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, and nitrogen/sulfur-containing compounds, act as natural protectants against herbivores, pathogens, and oxidative stress. Despite the well-documented protective roles of SMs, the precise mechanisms by which environmental factors modulate their accumulation under different stress conditions are not fully understood. This review provides comprehensive insights into the recent advances in understanding the functions of SMs in plant defense against abiotic and biotic stresses, emphasizing their regulatory networks and biosynthetic pathways. Furthermore, we explored the unique contributions of individual SM classes to stress responses while integrating the findings across the entire spectrum of SM diversity, providing a comprehensive understanding of their roles in plant resilience under multiple stress conditions. Finally, we highlight the emerging strategies for harnessing SMs to improve crop resilience through genetic engineering and present novel solutions to enhance agricultural sustainability in a changing climate. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a8b8ee0d937544e293eb1a2ffe27d43c |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2218-1989 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Metabolites |
| spelling | doaj-art-a8b8ee0d937544e293eb1a2ffe27d43c2025-08-20T03:13:45ZengMDPI AGMetabolites2218-19892025-04-0115427610.3390/metabo15040276Plant Secondary Metabolites—Central Regulators Against Abiotic and Biotic StressesAmeer Khan0Farah Kanwal1Sana Ullah2Muhammad Fahad3Leeza Tariq4Muhammad Tanveer Altaf5Asad Riaz6Guoping Zhang7Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou 310029, ChinaNational Key Laboratory for Tropical Crop Breeding, School of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), Hainan University, Sanya 572025, ChinaDepartment of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38000, PakistanZhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaNational Key Laboratory for Rice Biology and Breeding, Institute of Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaDepartment of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Pazar, Rize 53300, TurkeyQueensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, AustraliaDepartment of Agronomy, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou 310029, ChinaAs global climates shift, plants are increasingly exposed to biotic and abiotic stresses that adversely affect their growth and development, ultimately reducing agricultural productivity. To counter these stresses, plants produce secondary metabolites (SMs), which are critical biochemical and essential compounds that serve as primary defense mechanisms. These diverse compounds, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, and nitrogen/sulfur-containing compounds, act as natural protectants against herbivores, pathogens, and oxidative stress. Despite the well-documented protective roles of SMs, the precise mechanisms by which environmental factors modulate their accumulation under different stress conditions are not fully understood. This review provides comprehensive insights into the recent advances in understanding the functions of SMs in plant defense against abiotic and biotic stresses, emphasizing their regulatory networks and biosynthetic pathways. Furthermore, we explored the unique contributions of individual SM classes to stress responses while integrating the findings across the entire spectrum of SM diversity, providing a comprehensive understanding of their roles in plant resilience under multiple stress conditions. Finally, we highlight the emerging strategies for harnessing SMs to improve crop resilience through genetic engineering and present novel solutions to enhance agricultural sustainability in a changing climate.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/15/4/276abiotic and biotic stressesdefense mechanismsignaling pathwaysecondary metabolitesstress tolerance |
| spellingShingle | Ameer Khan Farah Kanwal Sana Ullah Muhammad Fahad Leeza Tariq Muhammad Tanveer Altaf Asad Riaz Guoping Zhang Plant Secondary Metabolites—Central Regulators Against Abiotic and Biotic Stresses Metabolites abiotic and biotic stresses defense mechanism signaling pathway secondary metabolites stress tolerance |
| title | Plant Secondary Metabolites—Central Regulators Against Abiotic and Biotic Stresses |
| title_full | Plant Secondary Metabolites—Central Regulators Against Abiotic and Biotic Stresses |
| title_fullStr | Plant Secondary Metabolites—Central Regulators Against Abiotic and Biotic Stresses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Plant Secondary Metabolites—Central Regulators Against Abiotic and Biotic Stresses |
| title_short | Plant Secondary Metabolites—Central Regulators Against Abiotic and Biotic Stresses |
| title_sort | plant secondary metabolites central regulators against abiotic and biotic stresses |
| topic | abiotic and biotic stresses defense mechanism signaling pathway secondary metabolites stress tolerance |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/15/4/276 |
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