Nitric oxide:A potential key point of the signaling network leading to plant secondary metabolite biosynthesis

The endogenous signaling network of plants plays important roles in mediating the exogenous factor-induced biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. Nitric oxide (NO) has emerged as a key signaling molecule in plants recently. Numerous studies demonstrated that the main signaling molecules such as salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and NO were not only involved in regulating plant secondary metabolite biosynthesis but also interacted to form a complex signaling network by mutual inhibition and/or synergy. The recent progress in the signal network of plant secondary metabolite biosynthesis has been discussed in this paper. Furthermore, we propose a hypothetical model to show that NO might act as a potential molecular switch in the signaling network leading to plant secondary metabolite biosynthesis.     

Nitric oxide mediates the fungal elicitor-induced Taxol biosynthesis of Taxus chinensis suspension cells through the reactive oxygen species-dependent and -independent signal pathways

Taxol (paclitaxel, NSC-125973), a secondary me- tabolite of the Taxus species, has been recognized as one of the best anticancer drugs emerging in the last decade[1]. The production of Taxol by various Taxus spp. cells in culture has been one of the most …