Generally, in plants, around 5–15% of the genome is involved in the regulation of secondary metabolite metabolism. This includes structural genes for biosynthesis, regulatory genes like MYB and bHLH transcription factors, and genes involved in transport and modification. In model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana, about 7–10% of genes (over 2,000 genes) are linked to specialized metabolism.

But medicinal plants may have an even higher proportion due to their complex metabolite profiles. This is dynamic and responsive to environmental and developmental signals.

Dear Athira V. Anand

Thanks for your support. I highly appreciate your support if you can kindly share some references regarding this topic.

Best,

Metabolism in plants is all interlinked, and it's difficult to determine what strictly involves in which process. Would regulation of enzymes in the shikimate pathway that produces phenylalanine, the precursor for phenylpropanoid pathway, be counted as "regulation of secondary metabolite metabolism"? Would regulation of protein synthesis, which take phenylalanine away from the phenylpropanoid pathway, be counted as one?

Dear Duy Minh Pham

Thanks for your answer and kind reply. I'm looking for documentation that shows what percentage of the plant genome is involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites.