Gershenzon J, McConkey ME, Croteau RB Plant physiology, 2000 ABSTRACT: Plants synthesize numerous classes of natural products that accumulate during development and are thought to function as constitutive defenses against herbivores and pathogens. However, little information is available about how the levels of such defenses are regulated. We measured the accumulation of monoterpenes, a model… Read more »
Evolution of secondary metabolites from an ecological and molecular phylogenetic perspective
Wink M Phytochemistry, 2003 ABSTRACT: Secondary metabolites, at least the major ones present in a plant, apparently function as defence (against herbivores, microbes, viruses or competing plants) and signal compounds (to attract pollinating or seed dispersing animals). They are thus important for the plant’s survival and reproductive fitness. Secondary metabolites therefore represent adaptive characters that… Read more »