USDA - What are the four classes of secondary metabolites in plants? Plant secondary metabolites can be classified into four major classes: terpenoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids and sulphur-containing compounds.

What are the four classes of secondary metabolites in plants?


Plant secondary metabolites can be classified into four major classes: terpenoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids and sulphur-containing compounds.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29925808/
https://www.nature.com/articles/ja201325
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/secondary-metabolite
https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Microbiology/Book%3A_Microbiology_(Boundless)/17%3A_Industrial_Microbiology/17.1%3A_Industrial_Microbiology/17.1C%3A_Primary_and_Secondary_Metabolites
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00893/full
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257929859_Antibiotics_as_Microbial_Secondary_Metabolites_Production_and_Application
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=secondary+metabolite+antibiotic&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11036689/
secondary metabolite antibiotic
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29925808/
nicotine strychnine and caffeine are produced by plants for
https://biocyclopedia.com/index/biotechnology/microbial_biotechnology/secondary_metabolites/biotech_antibiotics.php
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29925808/
https://tardigrade.in/question/secondary-metabolites-such-as-nicotine-strychnine-and-caffeine-2e43yezu


What are the four classes of secondary metabolites in plants?


Plant secondary metabolites can be classified into four major classes: terpenoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids and sulphur-containing compounds
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29925808/



Production of Plant Secondary Metabolites: Examples, Tips and Suggestions for Biotechnologists
Gea Guerriero 1, Roberto Berni 2 3, J Armando Muñoz-Sanchez 4, Fabio Apone 5, Eslam M Abdel-Salam 6, Ahmad A Qahtan 7, Abdulrahman A Alatar 8, Claudio Cantini 9, Giampiero Cai 10, Jean-Francois Hausman 11, Khawar Sohail Siddiqui 12, S M Teresa Hernández-Sotomayor 13, Mohammad Faisal 14
Affiliations expand
PMID: 29925808
PMCID: PMC6027220
DOI: 10.3390/genes9060309Free PMC article

Abstract


Plants are sessile organisms and, in order to defend themselves against exogenous (a)biotic constraints, they synthesize an array of secondary metabolites which have important physiological and ecological effects. Plant secondary metabolites can be classified into four major classes: terpenoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids and sulphur-containing compounds. These phytochemicals can be antimicrobial, act as attractants/repellents, or as deterrents against herbivores. The synthesis of such a rich variety of phytochemicals is also observed in undifferentiated plant cells under laboratory conditions and can be further induced with elicitors or by feeding precursors. In this review, we discuss the recent literature on the production of representatives of three plant secondary metabolite classes: artemisinin (a sesquiterpene), lignans (phenolic compounds) and caffeine (an alkaloid). Their respective production in well-known plants, i.e., Artemisia, Coffea arabica L., as well as neglected species, like the fibre-producing plant Urtica dioica L., will be surveyed. The production of artemisinin and caffeine in heterologous hosts will also be discussed. Additionally, metabolic engineering strategies to increase the bioactivity and stability of plant secondary metabolites will be surveyed, by focusing on glycosyltransferases (GTs). We end our review by proposing strategies to enhance the production of plant secondary metabolites in cell cultures by inducing cell wall modifications with chemicals/drugs, or with altered concentrations of the micronutrient boron and the quasi-essential element silicon.

Keywords: Artemisia; Coffea arabica L.; Urtica dioica L.; artemisinin; bioactivity; caffeine; cell wall; heterologous hosts; lignans; secondary metabolites; uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferases.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29925808/

Secondary Metabolites

Antibiotics 
In the beginning of 20th century, the idea of growth inhibition of one microorganism present in the vicinity of other one came into existence. Later, it was demonstrated that growth inhibition of the former micro-organism was mediated by secretion of toxic metabolites by the later. This toxic metabolite was termed as 'antibiotic' and the phenomenon of act of growth inhibition by antibiotics as 'antibiosis'. The antibiotics are defined as "the complex chemical substances, the secondary metabolites which are produced by microorganisms and act against other microorganisms"....

Penicillins
It was Alexander Fleming (1929) who first discovered the bacteriostatic principle from a fungus and named it penicillin. He observed that a fungal contaminant prevented the growth of staphylococci, which was later on identified as Penicillium notatum. Clutterbuck et al, (1932) studied the chemical nature of penicillin. They found that penicillin was an organic acid which was dissolved into organic solvents from aqueous solutions at low pH. It was vulnerable to hydrogen ion (H+) and heat. After evaporation of solution to dryness, the biological activity was lost. Further studies done on P. notatum confirmed that this mould could produce about 2 ppm active substance....

https://biocyclopedia.com/index/biotechnology/microbial_biotechnology/secondary_metabolites/biotech_antibiotics.php