ReviewThe New phytologist2018
Why do plants produce so many terpenoid compounds?
Review in The New phytologist, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 291 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
291 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- How Useful Are Plant Traits in Explaining Variation in Phyllosphere Microbial Abundance and Composition Across Hosts?Environmental microbiology · 2025Pooled it
- Review
- VfUGT87H9 Enhances Fusarium Resistance in Vernicia fordii via Myricetin Glucosylation-Mediated Flavonoid Metabolism.Plant, cell & environment · 2026Article
- Systematic mass-spectrometry-guided metabolic fingerprinting elucidates diversity of specialized metabolites across the Brassicaceae.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2026Article
- Review
- Insight into TPS-d Subfamily: The Evolutionary and Functional Diversity in Gymnosperms.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Article
- Floral Volatile Compounds ofInsects · 2026Article
- Distinct constraints but shared dynamics shape the macroevolution of volatile organic compound chemodiversity.Nature communications · 2026Article
- OfWRKY48 coordinates floral aroma biosynthesis by dual regulation of MEP pathway and carotenoid metabolism inHorticulture research · 2026Article
- Terpenoids fromPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Chromatographic Conditions as a Source of Analytical Variability in GC-MS Profiling of Essential Oils.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Expansion and functional diversification of terpene synthases shape volatile terpenoid landscape inActa pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2026Article
- Plant-Endophyte Cross-Talk inMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Regulation of α-bergamotene biosynthesis by the LcDOF5.8-LcTPSbms regulatory module in litchi fruit.Fundamental research · 2026Article
- Microbial-type terpene synthases enable enhanced insect and fungal resistance in engineered plants.Biodesign research · 2026Article
- Deciphering Antidiabetic, Anti-Inflammatory, and Anti-Cholinergic Bioactivities of Withania somnifera (L) Dunal Root Extract: An In Vitro and In Silico Investigation.Chemistry & biodiversity · 2026Article
- From fragrance wheel to functional genes: a multi-omics investigation into fragrance type formation in ornamentalHorticulture research · 2026Article
- Review
- Volatile organic compounds in 16 cultivars of cold-region small-fruited apples analyzed by HS-SPME-GC-MS combined with multivariate statistical analysis.Food chemistry: X · 2026Article
231 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
All plants synthesize a suite of several hundred terpenoid compounds with roles that include phytohormones, protein modification reagents, anti-oxidants, and more. Different plant lineages also synthesize hundreds of distinct terpenoids, with the total number of such specialized plant terpenoids estimated in the scores of thousands. Phylogenetically restricted terpenoids are implicated in defense or in the attraction of beneficial organisms. A popular hypothesis is that the ability of plants to synthesize new compounds arose incrementally by selection when, as a result of gradual changes in their biotic partners and enemies, the 'old' plant compounds were no longer effective, a process dubbed the 'coevolutionary arms race'. Another hypothesis posits that often the sheer diversity of such compounds provides benefits that a single compound cannot. In this article, we review the unique features of the biosynthetic apparatus of terpenes in plants that facilitate the production of large numbers of distinct terpenoids in each species and how facile genetic and biochemical changes can lead to the further diversification of terpenoids. We then discuss evidence relating to the hypotheses that given ecological functions may be enhanced by the presence of mixtures of terpenes and that the acquisition of new functions by terpenoids may favor their retention once the original functions are lost.
Indexed as
Identifiers
27604856What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.