Legumes
Legumes, that is, members of the family Fabaceae, are of tremendous global importance in agriculture, second only to the grasses.

Gourds
Members of the gourd family are known as Cucurbitacaea.

Cabbage and Mustard Family
Members of the cabbage and mustard family are known as Brassicaceae.

Environmental Stress and Photosensitivity
The agriculturally important members of the legume, gourd and cabbage or mustard family are among the most photosensitive of all plant families. In other words, members of these families are easily damaged by ultraviolet light, such as UV-B. Depletion of the ozone layer has increased the amount of UV-B reaching the earth. For this reason, the mechanisms that protect plants against this sort of environmental stress are of great economic importance throughout the world.

Flavonoid Pigments
One of the protection mechanisms of plants is the production of flavonoid pigments, which can be studied at the level of gene expression.