Chapter 5
Role of Stress and Defense in Plant
Secondary Metabolites Production
Humberto Aguirre-Becerra, Ma Cristina Vazquez-Hernandez,
Diana Saenz de la O, Aurora Alvarado-Mariana, Ramon
G. Guevara-Gonzalez, Juan Fernando Garcia-Trejo,
and Ana Angélica Feregrino-Perez
Abstract Secondary plant metabolites are natural bioactive compounds which are
an important income for the pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic, agriculture, and other
sectors due to their health-promoting properties and prevention and treatment of
some diseases. The secondary metabolites can be classified into three main groups:
phenolic compounds, terpenoids, and nitrogen compounds. The secondary metabolism in plants is a mechanism of adaptation and evolution as a defense to harsh
environmental factors that induce stress. According to the hormesis curve of each
plant model, the stress can be divided into distress (bad stress that leads to damage
and ultimately plant death) or eustress (good stress that leads to activation of
secondary metabolism). The environmental factors can be divided into biotic and
abiotic which can be artificially induced to activate plant defense responses leading
to the production of secondary metabolites. Several approaches to this process
called elicitation have been proposed in the last decades with different types of
metabolism-inducing factors or elicitors. Novel elicitation using abiotic factors
includes electromagnetic waves (including several wavelengths of the light spectra,
and electric and magnetic fields), acoustic waves, nanostructures, volatile compounds, nutrient deprivation, and several metals and salt soil pollutants. In the same
order, novel elicitation using biotic factors include new bacteria consortium, fungi,
phytohormones, and miRNA solutions. In general, the purpose of elicitation is to
interact with the biochemical routes in order to produce secondary metabolites in
H. Aguirre-Becerra Á D. Saenz de la O Á R. G. Guevara-Gonzalez Á J. F. Garcia-Trejo Á
A. A. Feregrino-Perez (&)
Facultad de Ingenieria, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro,
C.P. 76010 Santiago de Querétaro, QRO, Mexico
e-mail: feregrino.angge@hotmail.com
M. C. Vazquez-Hernandez
Departamento de Ingeniería, Tecnologico Nacional de Mexico Roque, Carr.
Celaya-Juventino Rosas Km. 8, C.P. 38110 Celaya, GTO, Mexico
A. Alvarado-Mariana
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Horticultura Ambiental, Av. de la Ciencia s/n,
C.P. 76230 Juriquilla, QRO, Mexico
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. Pal and A. K. Nayak (eds.), Bioactive Natural Products
for Pharmaceutical Applications, Advanced Structured Materials 140,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54027-2_5
151
Role of Stress and Defense in Plant
Secondary Metabolites Production
Humberto Aguirre-Becerra, Ma Cristina Vazquez-Hernandez,
Diana Saenz de la O, Aurora Alvarado-Mariana, Ramon
G. Guevara-Gonzalez, Juan Fernando Garcia-Trejo,
and Ana Angélica Feregrino-Perez
Abstract Secondary plant metabolites are natural bioactive compounds which are
an important income for the pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic, agriculture, and other
sectors due to their health-promoting properties and prevention and treatment of
some diseases. The secondary metabolites can be classified into three main groups:
phenolic compounds, terpenoids, and nitrogen compounds. The secondary metabolism in plants is a mechanism of adaptation and evolution as a defense to harsh
environmental factors that induce stress. According to the hormesis curve of each
plant model, the stress can be divided into distress (bad stress that leads to damage
and ultimately plant death) or eustress (good stress that leads to activation of
secondary metabolism). The environmental factors can be divided into biotic and
abiotic which can be artificially induced to activate plant defense responses leading
to the production of secondary metabolites. Several approaches to this process
called elicitation have been proposed in the last decades with different types of
metabolism-inducing factors or elicitors. Novel elicitation using abiotic factors
includes electromagnetic waves (including several wavelengths of the light spectra,
and electric and magnetic fields), acoustic waves, nanostructures, volatile compounds, nutrient deprivation, and several metals and salt soil pollutants. In the same
order, novel elicitation using biotic factors include new bacteria consortium, fungi,
phytohormones, and miRNA solutions. In general, the purpose of elicitation is to
interact with the biochemical routes in order to produce secondary metabolites in
H. Aguirre-Becerra Á D. Saenz de la O Á R. G. Guevara-Gonzalez Á J. F. Garcia-Trejo Á
A. A. Feregrino-Perez (&)
Facultad de Ingenieria, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro,
C.P. 76010 Santiago de Querétaro, QRO, Mexico
e-mail: feregrino.angge@hotmail.com
M. C. Vazquez-Hernandez
Departamento de Ingeniería, Tecnologico Nacional de Mexico Roque, Carr.
Celaya-Juventino Rosas Km. 8, C.P. 38110 Celaya, GTO, Mexico
A. Alvarado-Mariana
Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Horticultura Ambiental, Av. de la Ciencia s/n,
C.P. 76230 Juriquilla, QRO, Mexico
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. Pal and A. K. Nayak (eds.), Bioactive Natural Products
for Pharmaceutical Applications, Advanced Structured Materials 140,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54027-2_5
151