Seminars

 Plants produce a diverse array of aromatic natural products using CO₂ as a solo carbon source through photosynthesis. These aromatic phytochemicals play crucial roles in plant development and adaptation (e.g., lignin, phytohormones, pigments, and defense compounds) and are also utilized in our society as nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and biomaterials. In plants, a significant portion of photosynthetically fixed carbon is allocated to the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids - tyrosine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan - to synthesize massive amounts of aromatic amino acid-derived natural products. However, we have limited knowledge about how plants convert photosynthates into stable forms of aromatic phytochemicals and utilize them for plant growth and fitness. This knowledge gap has been a bottleneck in enhancing the production of high-value compounds in plants and designing new engineered plants with resilience to harsh environmental stresses. This presentation aims to highlight my recent efforts to understand and engineer the metabolism of aromatic amino acids and their derivatives with the focus on phenylalanine and phenylalanine-derived phenylpropanoids including anthocyanin. I will provide a potential framework for developing strategies to enhance plant chemical production and resilience.