Primary and secondary metabolites

Plant primary and secondary metabolites

1. BIOTECHNOLOGY PRIMARY AND SECONDARY METABOLITES Instructor: Dr. N.M.P

2. “Metabolites are intermediate products of  cellular metabolism catalyzed by various enzymes that naturally occur within the cells.”

3. What are Metabolites? Metabolites are the intermediate products produced during metabolism, catalyzed by various enzymes that occur naturally within cells. Eg., antibiotics, and pigments. The term metabolites are usually used for small molecules. The various functions of metabolites include; fuel, structure, signalling, catalytic activity, defence and interactions with other organisms. The metabolites are produced by plants, humans and microbes.

4. Primary Metabolites These are the chemical compounds produced during the  growth and development , processes. They are also involved in the primary metabolic processes of respiration and photosynthesis. The primary metabolites are formed in the growth phase. They maintain the physiological functions of the body and are known as central metabolites. They are the intermediate products of anabolic metabolism, which are used by the cells for the formation of essential macromolecules. Amino acids, vitamins, organic acids, are some of the primary metabolites produced industrially. Alcohol is the major primary metabolite produced on a large scale, industrially.

5. Secondary Metabolites These compounds are produced by the organisms that are not required for primary metabolic processes. However, they can be important ecologically or otherwise. Secondary metabolites are considered to be the end products of primary metabolites because they are derived by the pathways in which the primary metabolites involve. For eg ., antibiotics, toxins, pheromones, enzyme inhibitors, etc. Streptomycetes and related actinomycetes are the sources of novel secondary metabolites.