• Primary Metabolites: Produced by common metabolic pathways in most living organisms. These substances are essential for cell growth.
• Secondary Metabolites: Not essential for growth; specific to certain groups of organisms. Two functional groups are antibiotics and allelopathic agents.

💡 Fun Fact: Think of primary metabolites as the essentials, like our daily bread and water, while secondary metabolites are like the spices and herbs – not necessary but make life interesting!

• Antibiotics: Secreted by microorganisms to kill or prevent the growth of competitors.
  • Example: Penicillium (a fungi) releases penicillin.
• Allelopathic Agents: Released by plants into the soil to inhibit the growth of nearby plants.
  • Example: Ailanthus altissima releases ailanthone.

💡 Real-world Application: Antibiotics like penicillin are used in medicine to fight bacterial infections, while allelopathic agents in gardens can help certain plants dominate and thrive!

• Where's it found? Natural environments like soil, fruits, and old bread.
• What's its deal? They release enzymes, digest carbohydrates and proteins, and then absorb the good stuff (sugars, amino acids).
• Why produce penicillin? To outcompete others for their digested food.
• How does penicillin work? It weakens the cell walls of Gram-positive bacteria causing them to burst.

💡 Did You Know? Moldy bread, if it's Penicillium, could have been an ancient antibiotic!