Roles of plant-derived secondary metabolites during interactions with pathogenic and beneficial microbes under conditions of environmental stress

Abstract

Under natural conditions, plants generate a vast array of secondary metabolites. Several of these accumulate at widely varying levels in the same plant species and are reportedly critical for plant adaptation to abiotic and/or biotic stresses. Some secondary metabolite pathways are required for beneficial interactions with bacterial and fungal microbes and are also regulated by host nutrient availability so that beneficial interactions are enforced. These observations suggest an interplay between host nutrient pathways and the regulation of secondary metabolites that establish beneficial interactions with microbes. In this review, I introduce the roles of tryptophan-derived and phenylpropanoid secondary-metabolite pathways during plant interactions with pathogenic and beneficial microbes and describe how these pathways are regulated by nutrient availability.