Secondary metabolite biosynthesis pathway

Secondary metabolite biosynthesis pathways are metabolic routes within organisms—principally in plants, fungi, and bacteria—that produce secondary metabolites. These compounds are not directly involved in the normal growth, development, or reproduction of the organism but instead mediate ecological and defensive functions, including defense against herbivores, pathogens, and competition, as well as roles in plant-environment interactions[1][3][4][5]. Major secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways include the shikimic acid pathway, malonic acid pathway, mevalonic acid pathway, and methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway, each giving rise to classes of compounds such as alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolics, and polyketides[1][2][6]. While secondary metabolites produced are critical to human health as medicines (e.g., penicillin, taxol, morphine), the pathway itself is not considered a therapeutic target in clinical pharmacology, and the term does not refer to a druggable protein, enzyme, or receptor[3][4].

Other names

secondary metabolite synthetic pathwaysecondary metabolism pathwaynatural product biosynthesisspecialized metabolite pathwaysecondary metabolite pathway