ABSTRACT
In the genomics age, various genomic tools have transformed the study of PSMs. The eld of metabolomics is continually adding novelty and complexity to our information on the chemistry of PSMs, and the availability of whole-genome sequences for an ever-increasing list of plants enables us to examine the genomic basis of PSM production (Zhao et al. 2013). Now just beyond the genomics age, it has become the post-genome era. In recent years, a huge number of genes and gene products involved in PSM metabolism (~200,000 metabolites) have been discovered and characterized. PSMs that are known terpenoids, phenols, alkaloids, fatty acids, and so forth, play several important roles in plant growth or development, environmental adaptation, and trade and defense toward other surrounding organisms (Figure 1.1). Fraenkel (1959) classically stated, “The occurrence
Figure 1.1 (See color insert.) Representative plant specialized metabolites.
