The effect of drought and salinity on secondary metabolite of plants

Literature Review from the year 2018 in the subject Chemistry - Bio-chemistry, grade: 3.5, Lagos State University, course: Biochemistry, language: English, abstract: Since recent history, there have been tremendous efforts in combating the challenges of food insecurity. This mini-review discusses how environmental conditions favour or impair the growth and survival of plants via the molecular mechanisms of the secondary metabolites. Like animals, plants have survived many eons by evolving adaptive mechanisms in the presence of the myriad of abiotic and biotic stressors. In this text, the subject of drought and salt content in relationship to their role in biosynthesis of secondary metabolites is being discussed. Fundamentally, plants require optimum concentrations of microfauna/ micronutrients and favourable climatic/edaphic conditions in their metabolism. Consequently, they produce primary metabolites (such as carbohydrates, amino acids among others) that are needed for the normal growth and reproduction of plants. On the other hand, the secondary metabolites are mostly needed for ecological functions and regulating the primary metabolic pathways. Plants via their diverse pathways (TCA cycle, MEP pathway, shikimic pathway, mevalonate pathways) have been found to produce secondary metabolites such as terpenes, phenolic and nitrogen-based compounds. These secondary metabolites have been linked to affect crop yield and medicinal properties of plants in addition to other applications. Through well-controlled machinery of signal transduction; in response to ionic and osmotic balances, the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites has been known to be induced or inhibited for the growth and survival of the plant species.