Question

Secondary metabolite is

• A. Sugar
• B. Glucose
• C. Antibiotics
• D. All of the above

Answer 1

The correct option is C Antibiotics

Secondary metabolites, including antibiotics, are produced in nature and serve survival functions for the organisms producing them. Secondary metabolites serve: (i) as competitive weapons used against other bacteria, fungi, amoebae, plants, insects, and large animals; (ii) as metal transporting agents; (iii) as agents of symbiosis between microbes and plants, nematodes, insects, and higher animals; (iv) as sexual hormones; and (v) as differentiation effectors. Although antibiotics are not obligatory for sporulation, some secondary metabolites (including antibiotics) stimulate spore formation and inhibit or stimulate germination.