Despite the historical significance of flavonoids and their pigments in establishing the basis for modern genetics, research in this large group of secondary metabolites continues to be more intense than ever. With an impressive knowledge already available on the chemistry and the biosynthesis of flavonoids, the past few years have witnessed increasing research in the applications of flavonoids as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, as well as on their roles as signal molecules within plants and between plants and other organisms.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the flavonoid field since 1990, when the last major volume on flavonoids was published. This book covers the emerging areas in the field of flavonoid research and their applications. Chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, cellular and molecular biology are combined in each chapter to tackle what are perceived to be some of the most significant challenges currently being pursued in the area of thebiology of flavonoids.

Autorentext
Dr. Grotewold is an Associate Professor of Plant Biology at The Ohio State University. He received his Ph.D from the Instituto de Ingenieria Genetics y Bologia Molecular, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1988. His research focuses on Regulation of Gene Expression; Function and Evolution of Myb Proteins; Plant Metabolic Engineering. Combining molecular, cellular, biochemical and genetic approaches, his laboratory investigates fundamental questions regarding the mechanisms by which plants control gene expression, and how transcription factors have impacted plant evolution and speciation. He has started to develop regulatory networks in Arabidopsis that should help explain how the 28,000+ Arabidopsis genes are expressed. In addition, he is utilizing his extensive knowledge on transcription factors for plant metabolic engineering.

Zusammenfassung

Despite the historical signifigance of flavonoids and their pigments in establishing the basis for modern genetics, research in this large group of secondary metabolites continues to be more intense than ever. While research has focused in the past primarily on the chemistry and biosynthesis of flavonoids, the past few years have witnessed increasing research in the applications of flavonoids as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals as well as on their roles as signal molecules within plants and between plants and other organisms. No book has tried to provide a comprehensive overview of the flavonoid field since 1990.

This book will comprehensively cover the emerging areas in the field of flavonoid research and their applications. First, flavonoids must be introduced as chemical entities and then an overview of the tools currently available for their analysis will be presented.

Inhalt
The Stereochemistry of Flavonoids.- Isolation and Identification of Flavonoids.- The Biosynthesis of Flavonoids.- The Regulation of Flavonoid Biosynthesis.- Transport of Flavonoids: From Cytosolic Synthesis to Vacuolar Accumulation.- Flavonoid Pigments as Tools in Molecular Genetics.- The Evolution of Flavonoids and Their Genes.- Flavonoids as Nutraceuticals.- Flavonoids as Signal Molecules: Targets of Flavonoid Action.