Amino Acids in Plant Protection: Mechanisms, Metabolism and Coordination

Amino Acids in Plant Protection: Mechanisms, Metabolism and Coordination highlights the increasingly evident importance of amino acids in plant development and stress defense, addressing the needs of basic and applied plant scientists around the world. This comprehensive book presents the latest and novel findings on amino acid research on this important aspect of plant physiology. Higher plants are sessile and therefore cannot escape hostile environmental conditions that are a constant threat throughout their life cycle. Unfavorable growth conditions such as extreme temperatures, drought and flood, and contamination of soils with high salt concentrations are considered the major abiotic environmental stressors that can not only limit plant growth and development, but they also determine the geographic distribution of plant species and directly affect agronomical yield. Plants have evolved different strategies to minimize the harmful effects of abiotic stress conditions and several of them are connected to amino acid metabolism. Amino acids are involved in several physiological processes in plants from constituting proteins to acting as precursors for the synthesis of secondary metabolites and signaling molecules. Most importantly, they also take part in the transport and storage of organic nitrogen within the plant, having active roles in plant development and participating in the plant's response to environmental stresses. Metabolic adaptation is crucial for abiotic stress resistance in plants, and the accumulation of specific amino acids as well as secondary metabolites derived from amino acid metabolism has been identified in increased tolerance to hostile environmental conditions.

Amino Acids in Plant Protection: Mechanisms, Metabolism and Coordination provides the only comprehensive overview of the general direction of amino acid metabolism and genetic regulation under abiotic stress conditions, presenting a complete map of all currently known enzymatic steps involved in amino acid synthesis and degradation was assembled including the initial steps leading to the synthesis of secondary metabolites.