Metabolic Engineering in the Omics Era: Secondary Metabolites

Natural products have been attracting much interest around the world for their diverse applications, especially in drug and food industries. Plants synthesise a vast array of secondary metabolites which primarily contribute to their defence and survival under adverse conditions. A large number of specialised metabolites have therapeutic values as drugs. The World Health Organization estimates that 80% of the population in developing countries uses these plant based remedies. The dynamic changes in gene expression are mediated by several regulatory proteins that perceive and transduce the signals, leading to up- or down-regulation of the metabolic pathways. The use of omics has become a valuable research tool for evaluating different pathways of secondary metabolite production. Signal cascades is a strategy in metabolic engineering to produce valuable specialised metabolites. The present review summarises the different biotechnological tools to harness the production of specialised metabolites.