Journal article
Evolution of flavors and scents
Annual review of plant biology, Vol.56(1), pp.301-325
2005
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/114418
PMID: 15862098
Abstract
The world is filled with flavors and scents, which are the result of volatile compounds produced and emitted by plants. These specialized metabolites are the products of specific metabolic pathways. The terpenoid, fatty acid, and phenylpropanoid pathways contribute greatly to production of volatile compounds. Mechanisms that lead to evolution of volatile production in plants include gene duplication and divergence, convergent evolution, repeated evolution, and alteration of gene expression, caused by a number of factors, followed by change in enzyme specificity. Many examples of these processes are now available for three important gene families involved in production of volatile metabolites: the small molecule O-methyltransferases, the acyltransferases, and the terpene synthases. Examples of these processes in these gene families are found in roses, Clarkia breweri, and sweet basil, among others. Finally, evolution of volatile emission will be an exciting field of study for the foreseeable future.
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Details
- Title
- Evolution of flavors and scents
- Creators
- David R Gang - Department of Plant Sciences and BIO5 Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0036, USA. gang@ag.arizona.edu
- Publication Details
- Annual review of plant biology, Vol.56(1), pp.301-325
- Academic Unit
- Biological Chemistry, Institute of
- Publisher
- United States
- Identifiers
- 99900548183801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article