Abstract
Phenolics are ubiquitous secondary metabolites found in plant. They are aromatic compounds synthesized by phenylpropanoid pathway. Phenolics have been in the focus of many findings on plant-defenses mechanisms to pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and major abiotic stresses like drought, salinity, and UV. Phenolic compound exhibits antimicrobial and antioxidant properties which helps plant to evade pathogenic infections as well as protect the major tissues from toxic effect of reactive oxygen species. Rapid upregulation of genes in the phenylpropanoid pathway and the accumulation of phenolics can be observed in response to environmental stress. Phenolic compounds also play an important role in protecting the plant from insect herbivory. Phenolic compounds are diverse and classified based on the number of carbons. Structural diversity of the phenolic compound defines its functional properties and distribution in different plant species. Beside defensive mechanisms, phenolic compounds are also important in cross-talk or plant-microbe interaction and communications. Structural diversity of flavonoids from the leguminous plant is important in species-specific symbiotic relationships.
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Kumar, S., Abedin, M.M., Singh, A.K., Das, S. (2020). Role of Phenolic Compounds in Plant-Defensive Mechanisms. In: Lone, R., Shuab, R., Kamili, A. (eds) Plant Phenolics in Sustainable Agriculture . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4890-1_22
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