Essential oil production: relationship with abundance of glandular trichomes in aerial surface of plants

The terpenoids, or isoprenoids, are a large family of natural products that are best known as constituents of the essential oils in plants. Because of their pleasant flavor and aromatic properties, essential oils have an economic importance in perfumery, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and various other industries. However, expression profiles of regulatory genes in essential oil production have not been dissected entirely, which may be an interesting topic of future research. In this report, we review recent studies on isoprenoids biosynthesis in plants. We also discuss the progress of our recent research activities on isoprenoid studies.