The DOI matches its Crossref record; 12 of the 12 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Plant specialized metabolism
Open accessAbstract
Environmental factors such as light, water, minerals, temperature, and other organisms affect plant growth and development. Unlike animals, plants can't escape from unfavorable biotic and abiotic stresses. Thus, they evolved the ability to biosynthesize specific chemicals referred to as plant specialized metabolites in order to facilitate successful interactions with the surrounding environment, as well as with other organisms including plants, insects, microorganisms, and animals. While the exact number of plant specialized metabolites, historically called secondary metabolites, is currently unknown, it has been estimated to range from 200,000 to 1,000,000 compounds. In contrast to the species-, organ- and tissue-specific nature of plant specialized metabolites, primary metabolites are shared by all living organisms, are vital for growth, development and reproduction, and comprise only about 8,000 compounds. The biosynthesis and storage of plant specialized metabolites are developmentally and temporally regulated and depend on biotic and abiotic factors. Specific cell types, subcellular organelles, microcompartments, and/or anatomical structures are often devoted to producing and storing these compounds. The functions of many specialized metabolites are still not fully understood but are generally considered to be essential for the fitness and survival of plants, partially by interacting with other organisms in both mutualistic (for example, attraction of pollinators) and antagonistic (such as defense against herbivores and pathogens) ways. In this primer, we will focus on specialized-metabolite functions in plant defense interactions and on the genetic, molecular, and biochemical mechanisms leading to the structural diversity of specialized metabolites. Though less understood, we will also touch on the mode of action of specialized metabolites in plant defense.
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Claims the paper makes
0 Valid · 3 Not valid · 0 Not checked · 18 Own results and interpretations
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Despite enormous diversity, all plant specialized metabolites are biosynthesized from chemically simple precursors derived from primary metabolism.”
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Unlike mechanical defense, chemical defense relies predominantly on specialized metabolites that can protect plants via direct or indirect interactions (Figure 1).”
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Root exudates, which are a complex mixture of various specialized metabolites, can directly repel, inhibit, or intoxicate pathogenic microorganisms in the rhizosphere.”
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“To date, there is no clear distinction between these two mechanisms because specialized morphological structures like trichomes, secretory ducts, and laticifers not only serve as physical barriers or traps, but also contain specialized metabolites that possess anti-herbivore and anti-pathogen activities that enhance mechanical defense.”
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In addition to contributing to direct and indirect defenses, herbivoreinduced volatiles act as airborne signals that warn distal plant parts and neighboring plants about the herbivory and prime them to respond more strongly to upcoming insect attacks (Figure 2).”
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Probably not a substantial claim. 5
- It may state two separate claims as one. 16
- The quote only partly states this claim. 3
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Plant specialized metabolism
“By defi nition, plant specialized metabolites are species-specifi c compounds that contribute to plant adaptation and to the successful survival of plants in the changing ecological environment.”
§ Defensive function of plant specialized metabolites: direct interactions
“While some specialized metabolites evolved early in plant evolution and are therefore found in multiple plant families, others appeared more recently and thus are restricted to a few taxa.”
Citations
Cites
Defense Priming: An Adaptive Part of Induced Resistance
Mauch‐Mani, B., Baccelli, I., Luna, E., & Flors, V. (2017) · Annual Review of Plant Biology · doi:10.1146/annurev-arplant-042916-041132 · Cited by 1,065
Turlings, T. C. J., & Erb, M. (2018) · Annual Review of Entomology · doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-020117-043507 · Cited by 919
Plant Secondary Metabolite Diversity and Species Interactions
Keßler, A., & Kalske, A. (2018) · Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics · doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110617-062406 · Cited by 472
Harnessing plant trichome biochemistry for the production of useful compounds
Schilmiller, A. L., Last, R. L., & Pichersky, E. (2008) · The Plant Journal · doi:10.1111/j.1365-313x.2008.03432.x · Cited by 450
The Structure and Function of Major Plant Metabolite Modifications
Wang, S., Alseekh, S., Fernie, A. R., & Luo, J. (2019) · Molecular Plant · doi:10.1016/j.molp.2019.06.001 · Cited by 446
The Layers of Plant Responses to Insect Herbivores
Schuman, M. C., & Baldwin, I. T. (2015) · Annual Review of Entomology · doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-010715-023851 · Cited by 403
Exploring the Diversity of Plant Metabolism
Fang, C., Fernie, A. R., & Luo, J. (2018) · Trends in Plant Science · doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2018.09.006 · Cited by 339
Tritrophic Interactions: Microbe-Mediated Plant Effects on Insect Herbivores
Shikano, I., Rosa, C., Tan, C., & Felton, G. W. (2017) · Annual Review of Phytopathology · doi:10.1146/annurev-phyto-080516-035319 · Cited by 241
Adaptive mechanisms of plant specialized metabolism connecting chemistry to function
Weng, J., Lynch, J. H., Matos, J. O., & Dudareva, N. (2021) · Nature Chemical Biology · doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00822-6 · Cited by 205
Self-citationModern approaches to study plant–insect interactions in chemical ecology
Dyer, L. A., Philbin, C. S., Ochsenrider, K. M., Richards, L. A., Massad, T. J., Smilanich, A. M., Forister, M. L., Parchman, T. L., Galland, L. M., Hurtado, P. J., et al. (2018) · Nature Reviews Chemistry · doi:10.1038/s41570-018-0009-7 · Cited by 130
Cited by
Functional diversification of dietary plant small molecules by the gut microbiome
Kuziel, G. A., Lozano, G. L., Simian, C., Li, L., Manion, J., Victor, E. S., Chatila, T. A., Dong, M., Weng, J., & Rakoff-Nahoum, S. (2025) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2025.01.045 · Cited by 60
The evolutionary advantage of artemisinin production by Artemisia annua
Yin, Q., Li, X., Han, X., Zhang, Y., Lyu, R., Yuan, L., & Chen, S. (2024) · Trends in Plant Science · doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2024.09.006 · Cited by 48
Samsami, H., & Maali-Amiri, R. (2024) · Plant Physiology and Biochemistry · doi:10.1016/j.plaphy.2024.108862 · Cited by 32
Hou, M., Leng, C., Zhu, J., Yang, M., Yin, Y., Xing, Y.-M., & Chen, J. (2024) · Environmental Microbiome · doi:10.1186/s40793-024-00614-0 · Cited by 25
“Secondary metabolites have no direct effect on plant growth and development [24], but through adjusting plant metabolism, enhance plant resistance to poor environment condition [25].”
BackgroundNavigating the challenges of engineering composite specialized metabolite pathways in plants
Gharat, S. A., Tamhane, V. A., Giri, A. P., & Aharoni, A. (2025) · The Plant Journal · doi:10.1111/tpj.70100 · Cited by 23
Metadata
- Authors
- Huang, X.-Q., & Dudareva, N.
- Affiliations
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Corresponding author
- Dudareva, Natalia
- ORCID
- Dudareva, Natalia
- Venue
- Current Biology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-06
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- R473-R478
- ISSN
- 0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4379389745
- Cited by
- 92
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 36 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 4
- FWCI
- 7.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
- www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/ (vor, 370 d)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-017 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-037 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-012 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-029 (stm-asf)
- doi.org/10.15223/policy-004 (stm-asf)
- Locations
- Current Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- USDA NIFA
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Plant biochemistry and biosynthesis
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Insect Science › Insect-Plant Interactions and Control
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Plant Gene Expression Analysis
- Keywords
- plant secondary metabolism, secondary metabolites, plant defense, plant-microbe interactions, plant defense against herbivores, pathogen defense, biosynthesis, metabolic regulation, structural diversity, mechanism of action, primary metabolites, plant-environment interactions
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Plants, Plant Development
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-09-28, under version 3 of the claim definition (prompt extract-v3).
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Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
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Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
