Highlights
GTs are anatomical structures specialized for the synthesis and accumulation of secondary (or specialized) metabolites.
Transcriptome data have been obtained from isolated GTs, and these have enabled the identification of genes involved in the biosynthesis of various classes of specialized metabolites.
Genome-scale models can shed light onto the biochemical processes that facilitate the accumulation of specialized metabolites in GTs.
GTs can be photosynthetic or non-photosynthetic, which has significant – but poorly understood – implications for the use of different carbon sources.
Modeling can be employed to explore the feasible solution space for various assumptions regarding GT metabolism.
Insights gained from modeling predictions can be integrated into the design of experimental follow-up studies to test specific hypotheses that emanate from computational predictions.
Many aromatic plants accumulate mixtures of secondary (or specialized) metabolites in anatomical structures called glandular trichomes (GTs). Different GT types may also synthesize different mixtures of secreted metabolites, and this contributes to the enormous chemical diversity reported to occur across species. Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made in characterizing the genes and enzymes that are responsible for the unique metabolic capabilities of GTs in different lineages of flowering plants. Less is known about the processes that regulate flux distribution through precursor pathways toward metabolic end-products. We discuss here the results from a meta-analysis of genome-scale models that were developed to capture the unique metabolic capabilities of different GT types.
See original article at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1360138518300876