Interim Director and Professor Washington State University Pullman, Washington
The primary function of plant secretory structures is related to defense responses, both constitutive and induced, against herbivores and pathogens. The ability to sequester secondary (or specialized) metabolites in secretory structures was a critical adaptation that shaped plant-herbivore and plant-pathogen interactions. Plants secretions are also used commercially as essential oils and resins. This presentation will provide a brief historical overview of how single cell approaches have enabled gene discovery efforts that have ultimately led to the elucidation of pathways of plant specialized metabolism. Using selected examples, the relationship between genes, enzymes, and metabolites in the context of regulatory networks will be presented. The main emphasis of this presentation will be on glandular trichome metabolism in aromatic and medicinal plants.