Plants or plant cells in vitro, show physiological and morphological response to microbial, physical or chemical factors which are known as ‘elicitors’. Elicitation is a process of induced or enhanced synthesis of secondary metabolites by the plants to ensure their survival persistence and competitiveness. The application of elicitors, which is currently the focus of research, has been consider...

Secondary metabolites released by invasive plants can increase their competitive ability by affecting native plants, herbivores, and pathogens at the invaded land. Whether these secondary metabolites affect the invasive plant itself, directly or indirectly through microorganisms, however, has not been well documented. Here we tested whether activated carbon (AC), a well-known absorbent for seco...

Article history: Received on: 22/09/2013 Revised on: 6/10/2013 Accepted on: 20/10/2013 Available Online: 30/10/2013 Metabolomics plays significant roles in plant biology including growth, development and stress resistance. Plant produces diverse array of metabolites (approximately 200,000 to 1,000,000); hence metabolomic study is of great importance in plant biology. Due to presence of diverse ...

We studied the catabolism of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon phenanthrene by four rhizobacterial strains and the possibility of enzymatic oxidation of this compound and its microbial metabolites by the root exudates of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in order to detect the possible coupling of the plant and microbial metabolisms under the rhizospheric degradation of the organic pollutant. A co...

Plant secondary metabolism drives the generation of metabolites used for host plant resistance, as biopesticides and botanicals, even for the discovery of new therapeutics for human diseases. Flavonoids are one of the largest and most studied classes of specialized plant metabolites. To quickly identify the potential bioactive flavonoids in herbs, a metabolites software-assisted flavonoid hunti...

The genus Trichoderma comprises a great number of fungal strains that act as biological control agents, the antagonistic properties of which are based on the activation of multiple mechanisms. Trichoderma strains exert biocontrol against fungal phytopathogens either indirectly, by competing for nutrients and space, modifying the environmental conditions, or promoting plant growth and plant defe...

The modular design of plants enables individual plant organs to manifest autonomous functions and continue aspects of metabolism, such as respiration, even after separation from the parent plant. Therefore, we hypothesized that harvested vegetables and fruits may retain capacity to perceive and respond to external stimuli. For example, the fitness advantage of plant circadian clock function is ...

Endophytic fungi live inside plants, apparently do not cause any harm to their hosts and may play important roles in defense and growth promotion. Endophytes are microorganism that lives between living plant cell. Their relationship may vary with plant from symbiotic to bordening on pathogenic. Endophytes may contribute to their host plant by producing a plethora of substances that provide prot...

Phytochemical studies were carried out on the plant parts of Jatropha curcas (L.) and Azadirachta indica (A. Juss) found in the South Eastern parts of Nigeria with a view to highlighting their pre-existing secondary metabolites which have varieties of biological activities attributed to them. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of seven secondary metabolites (alkaloids, tannins, saponins, fla...

Plants synthesize a multitude of compounds that contribute to adaptation to their ecological niches. Such compounds serve as attractants of other living organisms beneficial to the plants or as defense against other biotic as well as abiotic agents. Selection for increased fitness, a never-ending process, has resulted in each plant lineage synthesizing a distinct set of specialized metabolites ...