Recent Developments in Plant Specialized Metabolite Transporter Research

Plants produce specialized metabolites to interact with their environment, deter pests and attract pollinators. Most metabolic pathways require transporter proteins working alongside biosynthetic enzymes. Sometimes, parts of the pathway are separated into distinct cellular compartments, tissues, and even organs. Specialized metabolites are often toxic. Occasionally, to perform their function, specialized metabolites must be accumulated at high concentrations or excreted into the environment. In short, transporter proteins are needed for short- and long-distance translocation of specialized metabolites and their intermediates, sequestration into specialized storage organs or subcellular compartments, excretion into the phyllo- and rhizosphere, and likely more. In contrast to transporters of primary metabolites, we lack knowledge of the transport of most specialized metabolites. Yet, due to recent advances, this field is rapidly developing with new families being identified and an expanding range of physiological roles being characterized.

Our goal is to focus on the recent developments and prospects of plant specialized metabolite transporter research. We would like to answer questions about novel transporter proteins, the regulation of their activity, and the possibility of using transporters for metabolic pathways engineering.

This Research Topic explores up-to-date research in the field of specialized metabolite transport. It will cover all aspects of plant specialized metabolite transport, from the characterization of novel transporter proteins and self-tolerance mechanisms to employing transporter proteins as potential breeding targets for the improvement of crop nutritional qualities and stress tolerance.

We welcome all types of articles that cover, but are not limited to, the following areas of research:

o Functional characterization of specialized metabolite transporter proteins
o Roles of transporter proteins in plant biotic and abiotic stress tolerance
o Specialized metabolite diversity in association with transporter activity
o Plant specialized metabolism compartmentalization and self-tolerance mechanisms
o Roles of specialized metabolite transporters in shaping plant microbiome
o Perspectives on using transporters as potential breeding targets
o New developments in methods employed in plant transporter protein research

Keywords: Transporter protein, Specialized metabolism, Self-tolerance, Compartmentalization, Metabolic pathway, Stress tolerance

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.