Guest Editors
Dr. Zigmantas Gudžinskas
Email: zigmantas.gudzinskas@gamtc.lt
Affiliation: Laboratory of Flora and Geobotany, Nature Research Centre, Vilnius 08412, Lithuania
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Research Interests: Plant ecology, plant taxonomy, plant-environment interactions, secondary metabolites
Dr. Olha Mykhailenko
Email: o.mykhailenko@nuph.edu.ua
Affiliation: 1. National University of Pharmacy, Kharkiv 61002, Ukraine
2. Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy Group, UCL School of Pharmacy, London WC1N 1AX, United Kingdom
3. Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Kiel University, Kiel 24118, Germany
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Research Interests: plant secondary metabolism, natural products, chromatographic analysis, plant-environment interactions, plant biochemistry, ethnopharmacology
Summary
Secondary metabolites, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes and phenolic compounds, play a crucial role in the survival and adaptation of plants to their environment. Unlike primary metabolites, these compounds are not directly involved in basic metabolic processes, but are essential for plant defence, signalling, reproduction and interaction with biotic and abiotic factors. The biosynthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites is highly dynamic and can be significantly influenced by ecological conditions such as climate, habitat, microbial communities, soil properties, altitude and UV exposure.
This Special Issue aims to present results on the complex and multifaceted interactions between plant secondary metabolism and ecological factors. We welcome original research articles and reviews that provide insights into the regulation, ecological function and adaptive significance of secondary metabolites in a wide range of plant species and ecosystems. Studies using experimental, analytical, molecular or modelling approaches to understand how environmental factors affect metabolite pathways are particularly encouraged.
Understanding these interactions not only enriches fundamental knowledge in plant biology and biochemistry but also provides important information for applied sciences such as agriculture, pharmacognosy, conservation biology, and climate-resilient crop development. We believe that this issue will serve as a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue, linking plant physiology, ecology, phytochemistry and biotechnology to address pressing issues in plant-environment interactions.
Keywords
abiotic stress; biotic stress; climate change; ecological factors; natural products; plant adaptations; plant-environment interactions; secondary metabolites.
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