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Updated: Oct 2, 2026

Annotation of Plant Gene Function via Combined Genomics, Metabolomics and Informatics
Published on: June 17, 2012
Metabolite signaling in plants: So many putative signals, so few definitive signaling components
Norma Fàbregas1, Anthony Artins2, Alisdair R Fernie2
1Laboratory of Biochemistry, Institut Químic de Sarrià (IQS), Universitat Ramon Llull (URL), 08017, Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract:
A myriad of metabolite signals have been proposed to operate in plants. By contrast to the situation in microbial and mammalian systems, however, except for those characterized in phytohormone research, there is a massive gap in information concerning the perception mechanism underlying non-hormonal metabolite signaling in plants. Here we critically evaluate current evidence for the role of sugars, nitrogen, amino acids, organic acids, polyamines and vitamins as signal metabolites. We discuss emerging concepts suggesting that plants may frequently rely on sensors, transceptors, and integrators rather than dedicated receptors, and we propose experimental approaches to identify and characterize the perception systems underlying non-hormonal plant metabolite signaling.
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