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Secondary metabolites often play an important role in plant defense against herbivory and other interspecies defenses. Humans use secondary metabolites as medicines, flavourings, pigments, and recreational drugs. [2] The term secondary metabolite was first coined by Albrecht Kossel, the 1910 Nobel Prize laureate for medicine and physiology.
The opposite of secondary metabolites are primary metabolites, which are considered to be essential to the normal growth or development of an organism. Secondary metabolites are produced by many microbes, plants, fungi and animals, usually living in crowded habitats, where chemical defense represents a better option than physical escape. [2]
They are most widely known for producing secondary metabolites, the source or basis of most pharmaceutical compounds, natural toxins, chemical communication, and chemical warfare between organisms. Metabolic gene clusters are also involved in nutrient acquisition, toxin degradation, [ 7 ] antimicrobial resistance, and vitamin biosynthesis. [ 5 ]
A secondary metabolite is not directly involved in those processes, but usually has important ecological function. Secondary metabolites may include pigments, antibiotics or waste products derived from partially metabolized xenobiotics. The study of the metabolome is called metabolomics.
Nonribosomal peptides (NRP) are a class of peptide secondary metabolites, usually produced by microorganisms like bacteria and fungi.Nonribosomal peptides are also found in higher organisms, such as nudibranchs, but are thought to be made by bacteria inside these organisms. [1]
A secondary metabolite is not directly involved in those processes, but usually has important ecological function. Examples include antibiotics and pigments. [40] By contrast, in human-based metabolomics, it is more common to describe metabolites as being either endogenous (produced by the host organism) or exogenous.
Click any text (name of pathway or metabolites) to link to the corresponding article. Single lines: pathways common to most lifeforms. Double lines: pathways not in humans (occurs in e.g. plants, fungi, prokaryotes). Orange nodes: carbohydrate metabolism. Violet nodes: photosynthesis. Red nodes: cellular respiration. Pink nodes: cell signaling.
Pages in category "Secondary metabolites" The following 18 pages are in this category, out of 18 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. ...