Plant secondary metabolites are a diverse group of compounds that contribute to many important biological and ecological functions. They are synthesized by plants to interact with the biotic and abiotic environments, playing roles in plant defense, growth, and development. Additionally, plant secondary metabolites have widespread applications in human industries, including food additives, cosmetics, dyes, insecticides, and drugs. The biosynthesis of these compounds is complex and dynamic, with more than one million secondary metabolites identified from terrestrial and aquatic plants. Despite their diversity, plants produce limited quantities of secondary metabolites in a metabolic cost-saving way. This has greatly limited their commercial production, and the overexploitation of source plants has raised concerns about their sustainability and highlighted the need for advanced research.

Recent advances in genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and other omics technologies have revolutionized our understanding of plant biology, enabling the discovery of new plant secondary metabolites and their biosynthetic pathways. Functional genomics approaches, such as genome-wide association studies, transcriptome analysis, and gene editing, have facilitated the identification and characterization of genes and enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of specific secondary metabolites. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches have enabled the manipulation of plant secondary metabolism to improve the yield and quality of specific metabolites of interest or to produce them in heterologous cultures. These advances have created new opportunities for the sustainable production and utilization of plant secondary metabolites.

This Research Topic aims to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date view of the biosynthesis, regulation, and biotechnological production of plant secondary metabolites, and to promote interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research collaborations in this field for sustainable and efficient utilization of these valuable compounds.

We welcome all article types published by Frontiers in Plant Science that address the following themes:
• Elucidating the known biosynthetic pathways of plant secondary metabolites, such as alkaloids, terpenes, phenolics, etc., using genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, or combined omics approaches
• Identifying and characterizing novel genes and enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of plant secondary metabolites using bioinformatic, molecular, biochemical, enzymological, and chemical methods
• Discovering and characterizing transcription factors responsible for the positive or negative regulation of plant secondary metabolite biosynthesis through integrative omics, genetic, and biochemical analyses
• Developing and employing innovative biotechnological techniques to alter plant secondary metabolism to improve the yield of specific metabolites of interest, or biomanufacturing plant secondary metabolites in engineered plants or yeast

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