Amino Acids in Plant Protection: Mechanisms, Metabolism and Coordination

Amino Acids in Plant Protection: Mechanisms, Metabolism and Coordination highlights the increasingly evident importance of amino acids in plant development and stress defense, addressing the needs of basic and applied plant scientists around the world. It provides the only comprehensive overview of the general direction of amino acid metabolism and genetic regulation under abiotic stress conditions, presenting a complete map of all currently known enzymatic steps involved in amino acid synthesis and degradation, including the initial steps leading to the synthesis of secondary metabolites. Higher plants are sessile and therefore cannot escape hostile environmental conditions that are a constant threat throughout their lifecycle. Unfavorable growth conditions such as extreme temperatures, drought, flood, and contamination of soils with high salt concentrations are considered the major abiotic environmental stressors that can not only limit plant growth and development, but also determine the geographic distribution of plant species and directly affect agronomical yield.