Assessing Flux Distribution Associated with Metabolic Specialization of Glandular Trichomes

Many aromatic plants accumulate mixtures of secondary (or specialized) metabolites in anatomical structures called glandular trichomes (GTs). Different GT types may also synthesize different mixtures of secreted metabolites, and this contributes to the enormous chemical diversity reported to occur across species. Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made in characterizing the genes and enzymes that are responsible for the unique metabolic capabilities of GTs in different lineages of flowering plants. Less is known about the processes that regulate flux distribution through precursor pathways toward metabolic end-products. We discuss here the results from a meta-analysis of genome-scale models that were developed to capture the unique metabolic capabilities of different GT types.