Co-evolution of Secondary Metabolites During Biological Competition for Survival and Advantage: An Overview

Abstract

Plants produce secondary metabolites which are involved in several biological processes and interactions with other organisms from microbes to insects to higher plants. These processes are variously termed as plant-plant interaction, allelopathy, herbivory, parasitism and mutualism, and induction of plant protection by other microorganisms. Plants are under selection pressure to protect themselves from herbivores/parasites, whereas herbivores/parasites struggle for their survival from plant defense to obtain food and reproduction site. Plants develop defense mechanism from herbivores over a period of 400 million years. Therefore, both develop various strategies to adapt and adjust with changing environment. In this introductory chapter, a brief review of co-evolution of secondary metabolites not only to complete the biological process but also to compete with each other for survival is presented.