Plants release an array of terpenoid compounds including hemiterpenes, mono- and sesquiterpenes, irregular terpenes and some diterpenes throughout their life cycles. These secondary metabolites play crucial roles in pollinator attraction, defense, communication and interaction with the surrounding environment. Release of these compounds from flowers and undamaged and herbivore attacked leaves follows a rhythmic profile, which is induced by illumination and often controlled by a circadian clock. In plants two distinct biochemical pathways localized in different subcellular compartments, the cytosolic mevalonic acid (MVA) pathway and plastidial methyl-erythritol-phosphate (MEP) pathway, are responsible for the biosynthesis of basic carbon building blocks for terpenoid compounds. Mounting evidence suggests that the flux through the MEP pathway changes rhythmically over a daily light/dark cycle peaking during the day. In this chapter we discuss the contribution of the MEP pathway to the rhythmic emission of terpenoids released from different plant tissues and the regulatory steps controlling the flux through this pathway.
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