Legume species in the family (Fabaceae) are crucial for modern agriculture. Economically important examples are crops like soybean, chickpea, alfalfa, clovers, and lupins, as well as various shrub and tree species, such as acacia, tamarind, and carob. These plants provide human and animal food, and play essential roles in crop rotation, as cover crops, or as a source of green manure.

Legumes are capable of mutualistic symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria dwelling in the soil. The bacteria recognize their host plants through specialized metabolites (flavonoids and isoflavonoids) released from the roots and colonize root hairs, forming structures known as nodules. Therefore, legumes are vital in replenishing the soil and easing the use of emission-heavy nitrogenous fertilizers.

The specialized metabolites in legumes are similarly diverse in structure, biosynthesis, physiological roles, and bioactivities as drugs or nutraceuticals. Isoflavonoids, derived from the common phenylpropanoid pathway, are highly characteristic to legumes and are involved in defense, growth, symbiosis, and are potent medicinal targets. Alkaloids are another group of natural products, with quinolizidine alkaloids representing several hundred unique structures limited mostly to legumes. They are associated with numerous pharmacological activities, including anti-arrhythmia, anti-pyretic, and anti-diabetic uses.

Researchers have been studying these pathways for a long time; however, the advent of omics’ strategies and breakthroughs of heterologous production of various compounds have sparked renewed interest in natural product synthesis. The enduring appeal of legumes as both food and feed crops and as medicinal plants creates a nexus of information and research that might positively impact a broad field from agriculture to cosmetics.

This Research Topic invites contributions from researchers with discoveries in specialized metabolism in legume species, including the biochemistry of pathways, regulation, transport, physiological roles, chemical ecology, and attempts at metabolic engineering both in planta and in heterologous systems. We encourage the submission of original research reports, perspectives, and reviews.

· Natural product discovery and structural elucidation of novel compounds in legumes
· Enzyme discovery and functional or structural characterization
· Prediction of pathways, protein function, and modelling of carbon flux using AI-based strategies and big data
· Studies on the regulation of specialized metabolism, e.g., through transcription, protein modification or turnover, and transport or breakdown of products; work towards establishing new public databases will also be appreciated within this scope.
· Chemical Ecology of natural products in legumes in either pathogenic and/or symbiotic relationships
· Bioproduction platforms for legume-derived natural products, including microbial, algal, and plant systems
· Strategies for increasing or attenuating natural product accumulation in agricultural or medicinal legume crops
· Evolutionary analysis of lineage-specific pathways developing among legume clades, or in comparison with other plant species

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Frontiers in Plant Science

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