title: Flavonoids as antioxidants and developmental regulators: relative significance in plants and humans.
abstract: Phenylpropanoids, particularly flavonoids have been recently suggested as playing primary antioxidant functions in the responses of plants to a wide range of abiotic stresses. Furthermore, flavonoids are effective endogenous regulators of auxin movement, thus behaving as developmental regulators. Flavonoids are capable of controlling the development of individual organs and the whole-plant; and, hence, to contribute to  stress-induced morphogenic responses of plants. The significance of flavonoids as scavengers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in humans has been recently questioned, based on the observation that the flavonoid concentration in plasma and most tissues is too low to effectively reduce ROS. Instead, flavonoids may play key roles as signaling molecules in mammals, through their ability to interact with a wide range of protein kinases, including mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), that supersede key steps of cell growth and differentiation. Here we discuss about the relative significance of flavonoids as reducing agents and signaling molecules in plants and humans. We show that structural features conferring ROS-scavenger ability to flavonoids are also required to effectively control developmental processes in eukaryotic cells.
authors: DiSPAA, Department of Agri-Food and Environmental Science, University of Florence, Viale delle Idee 30, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy. tattini@ipp.cnr.it.
authors: Cecilia
authors: C
authors: Brunetti
authors: Martina
authors: M
authors: Di Ferdinando
authors: Alessio
authors: A
authors: Fini
authors: Susanna
authors: S
authors: Pollastri
authors: Massimiliano
authors: M
authors: Tattini