Why and How to Dig into Plant Metabolite-Protein Interactions

Interaction between metabolites and proteins drives cellular regulatory processes within and between organisms. Recent reports highlight that numerous plant metabolites embrace multiple biological activities, beyond a sole role as substrates, products, or cofactors of enzymes, or as defense or growthregulatory compounds. Though several technologies have been developed to identify and characterize metabolite?protein interactions, the systematic implementation of such methods in the plant field remains limited. Here, we discuss the plant metabolic space, with a specific focus on specialized metabolites and their roles, and review the technologies to study their interaction with proteins. We approach it both from a plant?s perspective, to increase our understanding of plant metabolite-dependent regulatory networks, and from a human perspective, to empower agrochemical and drug discoveries.

Automated summary

The interaction between metabolites and proteins plays a crucial role in cellular regulatory processes within and between organisms. Recent studies have shown that plant metabolites have diverse biological activities beyond their traditional roles, and technologies to study metabolite-protein interactions are being reviewed. This discussion provides insights from both plant and human perspectives, contributing to a better understanding of plant metabolic networks and facilitating agrochemical and drug discoveries.