The papers assembled in this volume were originally presented at the joint meeting of the Phytochemical Society of North America and the Mid-Atlantic Plant Molecular Biology Society, in August 2000. The symposium from which these chapters were prepared was entitled ""Regulation of Phytochemicals by Molecular Techniques"" and was organised by James Saunders and Ben Matthews. This joint meeting was timely because of recent landmark advances in molecular biology and genomics as well as the renewed interest in phytochemistry as a rich source of nutraceuticals, drugs, and alternatives to synthetic agriculture pesticides. Progress in genome sequencing in plants such as Arabidopsis and rice has been remarkable, as have expressed sequence tag (EST) projects in other plants, including maize and soybean. Recently, private and public sector participants of the Human Genome Project announced that a rough draft of the human genome has been constructed. These advances directly influence phytochemical investigations by providing both insight and tools for exploring and manipulating genomes.
The chapters cover a wide range of applications from molecular biology to phytochemistry, and from basic studies on promoters and gene expression to pathway regulation and engineering with transformed plants. A number of noteworthy aspects emerge from this volume: applications of molecular biology to phytochemical practical problems are succeeding; newly emerging molecular tools promise to open new doors to discovery; and remarkable progress has already occurred in phytochemical pathway engineering.

The chapters presented in Secondary Metabolism in Model Systems are a microcosm of what the recent completion, or near completion, of various genome projects are enabling biochemists to understand not only about control and regulation of secondary metabolism, and how various pathways relate to each other, but also about its relation to primary metabolism. A major paradigm shift is occurring in the way researchers need to view "secondary" metabolism in the future.It is also clear that model systems, such as the ones discussed in the symposium, are providing new information and insight almost faster than researchers can process it
The volumes in this series contain articles on developing topics of interest to scientists, students and individuals interested in recent developments in the biochemistry, chemistry and molecular biology of plants.

. An excellent series volume covering the advances in understanding of gene functions, a high profile area of research due to recent genome projects
. This book provides essential information on new model systems available to biochemists
. The chapters in this volume are based on the papers presented in the symposium entitled "Secondary Metabolism in Model Systems"

This monograph series is commissioned by the Phytochemical Society of North America (PSNA). The volumes in this series contain articles on developing topics of interest to scientists, students and individuals interested in recent developments in the biochemistry, chemistry and molecular biology of plants. Volume 36 centers on the role of phytochemistry in the rapid developments in biology brought about by the application of large-scale genomics approaches.
Several functional genomic approaches discussed in this volume address plant gene function on a large scale. Plants are combinatorial chemists par excellence, and understanding the principles that relate enzyme structure to function will open up unlimited possibilities for the rational design of new enzymes to generate novel biologically active natural products. Knowledge of the molecular genetics of plant natural product pathways will also facilitate the engineering of these pathways for plant improvement and human benefit. Phytochemistry truly has a great future in the genomics and post-genomics eras.

The past decade has seen major advances in the cloning of genes encoding enzymes of plant secondary metabolism. This has been further enhanced by the recent project on the sequencing of the "Arabidopsis" genome. These developments provide the molecular genetic basis to address the question of the "Evolution of Metabolic Pathways." This volume provides in-depth reviews of our current knowledge on the evolutionary origin of plant secondary metabolites and the enzymes involved in their biosynthesis. The chapters cover five major topics: 1. Role of secondary metabolites in evolution; 2. Evolutionary origins of polyketides and terpenes; 3. Roles of oxidative reactions in the evolution of secondary metabolism; 4. Evolutionary origin of substitution reactions: acylation, glycosylation and methylation; and 5. Biochemistry and molecular biology of brassinosteroids.