Plant cytochromes P450: an overview.

Cytochromes P450 from higher plants share many general characteristics with those from animals and microorganisms. There are now 20 known P450 gene families in plants, with the number rapidly increasing. Many of these enzymes catalyze reactions in the secondary metabolic pathways of higher plants. The sheer number of plant species and the variety of these many pathways together result in the diverse enzyme chemistry available from P450s in the plant kingdom. Highlights of recent findings and of the contents of this journal issue are summarized.