Essential oil production: relationship with abundance of glandular trichomes in aerial surface of plants

Abstract

The terpenoids, or isoprenoids, are a large family of natural products that are best known as constituents of the essential oils in plants. Because of their pleasant flavor and aromatic properties, essential oils have an economic importance in perfumery, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and various other industries. However, expression profiles of regulatory genes in essential oil production have not been dissected entirely, which may be an interesting topic of future research. In this report, we review recent studies on isoprenoids biosynthesis in plants. We also discuss the progress of our recent research activities on isoprenoid studies.

Inter-population variability of leaf morpho-anatomical and terpenoid patterns of Pistacia atlantica Desf. ssp. atlantica growing along an aridity gradient in Algeria

“…Glandular trichomes are one of the most common secretory structures that produce and store essential oil in plants (Covello et al, 2007;Giuliani and Bini, 2008;Biswas et al, 2009). The high terpenoid contents in Bechar population could be related to the high density of glandular trichomes in this population, which would be also in accordance with other results found by several authors (Mahmoud et al, 2004;Fridman et al, 2005;Ringer et al, 2005).…”

Optimization of potassium fertilization/nutrition for growth, physiological development, essential oil composition and antioxidant activity of Lavandula angustifolia Mill

“…Common or English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), an important evergreen perennial shrub, is used medicinally, in the perfumery, balms, salves, soaps, cosmetics and extensively used as model plant for isoprenoid biosynthesis studies (Biswas et al, 2009).…”

“…The typical aroma of lavender is derived mainly by linalool, linalyl acetate, 1,8-cineole, o-cymene, borneol, and camphor compounds (Biswas et al, 2009) (Miliauskas et al, 2004). The effect of mineral application by means of fertilizers, on lavender plant antioxidant activity as well as essential oil yield and constituents is poorly known.…”

Comparative Functional Genomic Analysis ofSolanumGlandular Trichome Types

“…These structures perform important biological functions, such as discouraging herbivory, attracting pollinators, and maintaining a boundary layer (Nihoul, 1993;Van Dam and Hare, 1998;Kennedy, 2003;Moyano et al, 2003;Simmons and Gurr, 2005;Liu et al, 2006;Horgan et al, 2007;Gonzalez et al, 2008;Romero et al, 2008;Nonomura et al, 2009;Kang et al, 2010). Many of these functions are the result of the specialized nature of glandular trichomes (glands) as sites for the synthesis and storage of biologically active specialized metabolites (Alonso et al, 1992;Antonious, 2001;Iijima et al, 2004;Siebert, 2004;Deschamps et al, 2006;Nagel et al, 2008;Wang et al, 2008;Biswas et al, 2009;Sallaud et al, 2009). Comparisons between domesticated crop species and their wild progenitors have revealed that many of the more potent, glandular trichome-derived specialized metabolites have been lost during domestication (Rodriguez et al, 1993;Oghiakhe, 1997;Medeiros and Tingey, 2006;Zhang et al, 2008;Besser et al, 2009).…”