Why do plants produce so many terpenoid compounds?
University of Michigan · Cornell University
Indexed incrossrefpubmed
Abstract
All plants synthesize a suite of several hundred terpenoid compounds with roles that include phytohormones, protein modification reagents, anti-oxidants, and more. Different plant lineages also synthesize hundreds of distinct terpenoids, with the total number of such specialized plant terpenoids estimated in the scores of thousands. Phylogenetically restricted terpenoids are implicated in defense or in the attraction of beneficial organisms. A popular hypothesis is that the ability of plants to synthesize new compounds arose incrementally by selection when, as a result of gradual changes in their biotic partners and enemies, the 'old' plant compounds were no longer effective, a process dubbed the…
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2Topics & keywords
Topics
Keywords
- Terpenoid
- Terpene
- Biology
- Diversification (marketing strategy)
- Ecology
- Botany
- Biochemistry
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