Elicitation of plants

Abstract

Elicitors are compounds stimulating any type of plant defense. This broader definition of elicitors includes both substances of pathogen origin (exogenous elicitors and compounds released from plants by the action of the pathogen (endogenous elicitors). Also elicitors could be used as enhancers of plant-secondary-metabolite synthesis and could play an important role in biosynthetic pathways to enhanced production of commercially important compounds. The increased production, through elicitation, of the secondary metabolites from plant cell cultures has opened up a new area of research, which could have important economical benefits for bio industry. © 2006 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.