The Phenylpropanoid Pathway in Arabidopsis

The phenylpropanoid pathway serves as a rich source of metabolites in plants, being required for the biosynthesis of lignin, and serving as a starting point for the production of many other important compounds, such as the flavonoids, coumarins, and lignans. In spite of the fact that the phenylpropanoids and their derivatives are sometimes classified as secondary metabolites, their relevance to plant survival has been made clear via the study of Arabidopsis and other plant species. As a model system, Arabidopsis has helped to elucidate many details of the phenylpropanoid pathway, its enzymes and intermediates, and the interconnectedness of the pathway with plant metabolism as a whole. These advances in our…