The NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on "Regulation of Enzymatic
Systems Detoxifying Xenobiotics in Plants" intended to provide a forum
to scientists from academia, industry, and govemment for discussing and
critically assessing recent advances in the field of xenobiotic
metabolism in plants and for identifying new directions for future
research. Plants function in a chemical environment made up of nutrients
and xenobiotics. Xenobiotics (foreign chemicals) are natural or
synthetic compounds that can not be utilized by plants for
energy-yielding metabolism. Plants may be exposed to xenobiotics either
deliberately, due to their use as pesticides or accidentally, from
industrial, agricultural, and other uses. Plants, like most other
organisms, evolved a remarkable battery or metabolic reactions to defend
themselves against the potentially toxic effects of xenobiotics. The
main enzymatic reactions utilized by plants for xenobiotic
detoxification include oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis and conjugation
with glutathione, sugars (e.g., glucose), and amino acids. Eventually,
xenobiotic conjugates are converted to insoluble bound residues or to
secondary conjugates, which are deposited in the vacuole of plant cells.