Biochemical Regulation
Apart from environmental and biotic factors which influence the synthesis of plant metabolites, there are also factors or conditions acting within the plant itself that influence the activity of biochemical pathways. An understanding of these factors and how they influence the individual steps of metabolic pathways holds significant benefit to humans. Some examples are given in the following sections. 3.3.1 Metabolite Feeds and Radioactive Precursors One of the primary ways by which researchers...
Melissa
Varro Tyler33 told the American Chemical Society, and we quote from his unpublished draft Melissa volatile oil is used as a sedative, a spasmolytic, and an antibacterial agent. The sedative action is attributed largely to citronellal with other terpenes (see Chapter 1) such as citronellol, geraniol, caryophyllene, linalool, citral, limonene, and eugenol contributing to the effect. Buchbauer33a states that mere inhalation of lemon balm oil has a very good sedative effect You need not a massage....
Regulation By Environmental And Biotic Stresses
A host of environmental factors are involved in the regulation of metabolite biosynthesis in plants. The need for this control of synthesis stems from the fact that plants must be able to adjust the production of metabolites according to changing factors if they are to survive. Light is obviously a key factor in the ultimate production of many compounds because it supplies the energy needed to fix carbon. It is also more directly necessary for the biosynthesis of compounds such as chlorophylls,...
Conclusions
Bioseparation of natural products from plants can be relatively simple and inexpensive, as for example, in preparing natural whole foods, herbal medicines and herbal teas, and natural plant dyes. Or it can be quite complicated and expensive, as for example, drug discovery from natural products, or isolation and identification of DNA, RNA, proteins, or metabolites in a given metabolic pathway. In this chapter, we have focused on the major methods employed by chemists and biologists to extract...
Contents
6.2 An Alphabetical Excursion of Examples of 6.2.1 Aloe 6.2.2 Anticariogenic 6.2.3 Antiedemic 6.2.4 Antifeedant 6.2.4.1 Neem (Azadirachta 6.2.4.2 Jojoba (Simmondsia 6.2.5 Antimalarial 6.2.6 Antioxidant 6.2.7 Antiulcer 6.2.8 Calcium 6.2.9 Catharanthus 6.2.12 Garlic (Allium sativum
Simple Phenols
Most of the simple phenols are monomeric components of the polymeric polyphenols and acids which make up plant tissues, including lignin, melanin, flavolan, and tannins. These individual components are obtained by acid hydrolysis of plant tissues. The components include p-hydroxybenzoic acid, protocatechuic acid, vanillic, syringic, and salicylic and gallic acids. Free phenols which do not require degradation of cell-wall polymers are relatively rare in plants. Hydro-quinone, catechol, orcinol,...
References
Schmutterer, H., Ed., The Neem Tree, VHC, Weinheim, Germany, 1995, 1-696. * I would like to thank Leland Cseke, University of Michigan Biology Dept., for helping to use the Shimadzu Gas Chromatograph and Horticulturist Adrienne O'Brien, U of M Matthaei Botanical Gardens, for information on how to grow the plants. Lavender Extract Retention Times and Chemical Values 2. van der Nat, J. M., van der Sluis, W. G., de Silva, K. T. D., and Labadie, R. P., Ethnopharmacognostical survey of Azadirachta...
Molecular Regulation
Since the production of every enzyme along with its location and function within the cells of a given plant are ultimately controlled by the sequence of nucleotides on strands of DNA, one last category of factors that influence metabolite biosynthesis will be considered. These factors interact with the DNA molecules themselves to regulate the activity of the genes that govern the individual enzymes of each pathway. 3.4.1 Primary Steps in Gene Expression The primary steps in gene expression are...
Table of Contents
Phytochemicals The Chemical Components of How and Why These Compounds are Synthesized by Plants 37 Leland J. Cseke and Peter B. Kaufman Regulation of Metabolite Synthesis in Leland J. Cseke and Peter B. Kaufman Good and Bad Uses of These Compounds by Peter B. Kaufman, Lynn Pennacchini, Maureen McKenzie, and James E. Hoyt Modes of Action at Target The Synergy Principle at Work in Plants, Pathogens, Insects, Herbivores, and James A. Duke and Mary Jo Bogenschutz-Godwin Bioseparation of Peter B....
Surfing The
The Internet Web (the web or the net) provides a vast amount of data for biologists. From manuscript to posting on the web is a small step. Word processing documents, spreadsheets, and digital graphics are all easily made available to the Net. The difficulty with the Net in its current form is two-fold. First, the data must be prepared in machine form. At first glance this may not seem to be a significant problem. Most new data are already collected as computer files, entered into graphing and...
Content
9.2 Preservation of Natural Habitats and 9.2.1 National 9.2.2 Sustainable Biopreserves for Indigenous Peoples 269 9.2.3 Work of the Nature 9.2.4 Conservation of Medicinal Plants in Belize, Central America 271 9.3 Prevention of Destruction of Natural and Wilderness Areas 273 9.3.1 Work of the World Wildlife 9.3.2 Work of the Sierra 9.4 Growing Rare and Endangered Plants in Botanical Gardens and Arboreta How is it 9.4.1 Involvement of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta 275 9.4.2 Importance of...
Alkaloids
The alkaloids include those natural products that contain nitrogen, usually as part of a cyclic system. Compounds of this type are numerous among plants and are perhaps best known for their often potent pharmacological properties. Thus, many of the common drugs are alkaloid based. Relatively mild examples include caffeine, quinine, and nicotine. More potent examples include cocaine, morphine, and strychnine. Biosynthetically, they may be derived from amino acids, terpenes, or aromatics...
Introduction
In Chapter 1, we presented a compilation of the many types of chemical compounds that plants produce. Now the question arises How do plants synthesize these compounds and why do plants synthesize such a vast array of compounds These are the primary topics of this chapter and in the process of exploring the answers, we hope to shed some light on the factors that drive the evolution of the biosynthetic pathways that produce these compounds. For example, the simple fact that plants have roots...
Primary Metabolic Pathways In Plants
To make some sense out of the various highways and by-ways of plant metabolism, we have put together the scheme shown in Figure 2.1. It depicts the interrelationships between the major metabolic pathways that occur in plants. Similar schemes have been produced for the major pathways for mammalian and microbial metabolism. Some pathways are unique to plants, such as the carbon reduction cycle in photosynthesis and the shikimic acid pathway which produces, among other things, essential amino...
Preservation Of Natural Habitats And Ecosystems
Natural resource policies aim to provide people the opportunity to enjoy and benefit from natural environments evolving by natural processes with minimal influence by human actions. The National Park Service (NPS) will ensure that lands within park boundaries are protected. Where parks contain nonfederal lands, the NPS uses cost-effective protection methods. Preservation of the character and resources of wilderness areas designated within a park, while providing for appropriate use, is the...
Tarai
FIGURE 7.15 Illustration of taxol molecule and the three-ion series observed following fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectrometry of taxol. (From McClure, T. D., Schram, K. H., and Reiner, M. L. J., J. Am. Mass Spectrom., 3, 672, l992. With permission.) In addition to chromatography and MS, chemists and molecular biologists employ other ways to characterize and identify plant metabolites (Figures 7.16 and 7.17). Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) This is a spectroscopic technique used to...
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I d , , V , ,,, . nh Jln7 . 1.1 11, l ,mrr.-I ji ir. < ',rr H I i Jruxirtc I Hl .'I p.-J. k il ' -ri j y-t-.ry -KaH -',0, -.rjn i1 i J i . > -11 i,.ij j. jr .fc FIGURE 1.27 The 20 amino acids that are incorporated into proteins. than being produced synthetically. In some cases, they may be grouped on the basis of the ring system present. Several common ring systems used for classification are shown in Figure 1.28. Whereas the phenols are weakly acidic, the alkaloids are...
Acknowledgments
We thank the following individuals who have assisted us or provided us with information in the preparation of this book. UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program) students at the University of Michigan who worked on the case studies with individual plants and the important natural products that they produce. Mark Plummer, Ph.D., research chemist at Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research Laboratories in Ann Arbor, MI, who provided us with information on the bioassays used to test plant...
From Plants
Cseke Sara Warber James A. Duke Harry L. Brielmann CRC Press Boca Raton New York London Tokyo Acquiring Editor Project Editor Marketing Manager Cover design Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Natural products from plants Peter B. Kaufman . . . et al. . p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 0-8493-3134-X (alk. paper) 1. Botanical chemistry. 2. Plant products. I. Kaufman, Peter B. QK861.N38 1998 581.6'3 dc21 This book contains...
Aromatics
Virtually all plants contain a wide variety of natural products which include an aromatic ring that generally contains one or more hydroxyl substituents. The vivid colors that light up the plants around us are derived generally from three sources the tetrapyrroles, principally chlorophyll the terpene-based carotenes, that we have already seen and the aromatics, also referred to as the acetogenins. Several thousand aromatics are known and new structures are continously being discovered. In some...
Nucleosides Nucleotides And Nucleic Acids
Nucleic acids are the repositories and transmitters of genetic information for every cell, tissue, and organism. These include DNA and RNA which are polymers comprised of five different monomers adenine, thymine (DNA only), uracil (RNA only), cytosine, and guanine. These individual monomers are composed of a sugar (ribose for RNA, deoxyribose for DNA), a base (purine or pyrimidine), and a phosphate linker. When the individual monomer contains all three components, it is referred to as a...
All Three Runs
L MM- M- 1 I J M 1 I 1 1 1 ------ 1 FIGURE 3.7 Graph of time-course changes in camptothecin levels in tree of joy seedlings (Camptotheca accuminata) grown under conditions of no shade (Run 1), 1x shading (Run 2), and 2x shading (Run 3). See text for the respective light intensities at the tops of the tree of joy seedlings for these three different light level regimes. CPT is known to be an anti-cancer agent and has shown activity against such cancers as ovarian tumors, leukemia, and lung...
Contributors
Mary Jo Bogenschutz-Godwin Tropical Reigns Division of Bogenschutz-Godwin, Inc. 987 St. Margarets Drive Annapolis, MD 21401 James E. Hoyt, M.Sc. Computer Systems Specialist, Technical Services University Library, University of Keewaydinoquay (Kee) Peschel Ojibwa Medicine Woman Leland, MI Barbara J. Madsen, Ph.D. Department of Biology University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048 Maureen McKenzie, Ph.D. CEO Naniquah Corporation PO Box 4 Akiro Okubo, Ph.D. Department of Applied Biological...
Prevention Of Destruction Of Natural And Wilderness Areas
9.3.1 Work of the World Wildlife Fund The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has several important objectives, including (1) halting global trade in endangered animals and plants (2) creating and preserving parks and protected areas around the world (3) working to create strongholds for thousands of irreplaceable plant and animal species as well as protecting these and other areas from threats beyond their boundaries (4) working with local leaders, groups, governments, and international funding...
Tannins
The tannins are common to vascular plants existing primarily within woody tissues. Tannins consist of various phenolic compounds that react with proteins to form water-insoluble copolymers. This reaction with proteins has been used industrially for the conversion of animal skins into leather. Plant tissues that are high in tannin content have a highly bitter taste and are avoided by most feeders. Tannins may be either condensed or hydrolyzable. Condensed tannins are formed biosynthetically by...
Synthesis Of Plant Metabolites In Specialized Structures Or Tissues
Plants do not always produce their products in every cell of the organism. Often plants have developed tissue-specific locations for synthesis of certain compounds which not only accentuates the compound's specific function but perhaps avoids the toxic effects that the compound may have on the plant itself. Indeed, this is the case for all plant products within each cell of every plant, but the plant as a whole must have a system for dealing with potentially hazardous substances. The following...
Nitrogencontaining Compounds
4.6.1 Alkaloids from Plants that Are Used to Treat Malaria Quinine (Chinchona spp.) The bark of Chinchona trees is the source of the drug, quinine, which has been used to treat patients afflicted with malaria. Malaria is a disease in humans caused by the parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. The parasite is transmitted by the mosquito, Anopheles spp. Quinine, or more generally, the drug, chloroquine, since l986 in Brasil and Africa, has been shown to be no longer effective in treating malaria due to...
Collection Storage And Vouchering Of Plants
7.2.1 Collection of Plants in the Field Do's and Don'ts When collecting plants in the field for natural product extractions, it is important to be properly prepared. Based on our experience, we suggest that you do the following Wear field clothes (Figure 7.1) and cover yourself head to toe if collecting is to be in the cold of winter or when mosquitos or deer black flies are in abundance. FIGURE 7.1 Casey Lu (far right) and colleagues (from Humboldt State University Department of Biological...
Transmembrane Signaling
We have examined ways in which plant molecules effect the synthetic capacity of cells and their ability to proliferate or complete their life cycle. Another important way that exogenous molecules interact with cells and their functions is by various types of transmembrane signaling. Two types of signaling, ligand gated ion channels and G-protein second messenger, are particularly relevant to the function of nerves and muscles. We will discuss these in detail and look at examples of how...
Cell Life Cycle And Cancer Treatment
Cancer is one of the predominant killers in the western world today. Despite much advancement in cancer therapy, many cancers are still ineffectively treated or become resistant or recur. In addition, the methods of treating cancer are often difficult for patients to tolerate due to the side effects. Thus, there continues to be great interest in the search for new and better treatments. Plant-based medicines have definitely found a role in this type of treatment and the mechanism of interaction...
Amines Amino Acids And Proteins
Compounds that contain nitrogen as part of a chain rather than being incorporated into a ring structure generally belong to this category of natural products. For the amines, this by definition imparts a basic nature to the molecule. For the amino acids this results in molecules that may be zwitterionic (forming a dipolar ion) depending on the pH of the environment. The common plant amines can be subdivided into aliphatic monoamines, aliphatic polyamines, and aromatic amines. Occasionally these...
Generalized View Of A Plant Cell And Its Subcellular Compartments
Before considering individual compartments within plant cells where plant metabolites are synthesized and stored, we must first examine how a typical plant cell is organized and how its various components are related to one another. For this purpose, we shall refer to the cell illustrated in Figure 2.2. The jacket that encloses this cell is the cell wall. This is the primary site for polymerization of cell wall polysaccharides (cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectic polysaccha-rides), lignin, and...
Terpenoids And Phenolics
4.5.1 Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) Can Be Both Good and Bad Pokeweed (Figures 4.14, 4.15, and 4.16) is a common perennial garden weed with lush green shoots and bright red stems (due to presence of anthocyanin pigment). Leaves of its green shoots are harvested in the spring in Appalachia, boiled several times, each time pouring off the hot water. All parts of the plant except the above-ground leaves that grow in the spring contain toxic triterpene saponins (phytolaccigenin, jaligonic acid,...
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FIGURE 2.16 Examples of carotenoid and xanthophyll pigments from plants. P-carotene is the orange pigment in carrot roots, pumpkin fruits, leaves of deciduous trees, and some flower petals. Zeaxanthin and violaxantin are also found in autumn-colored leaves and flower petals and are responsible for the FIGURE 2.17 Carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in plants. (From Bartley, G. E. and Scolnik, P. A., The Cell Plant, 7, 1027-1028, 1995. With permission.) FIGURE 2.17 Carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in...
How And Where Some Of The Wellknown Plant Metabolites Are Synthesized In Plant Cells
2.4.1 Lipids, Proteins, and Nucleotides All living organisms produce three major categories of compounds (1) lipids, which make up both the plasma membrane and the membranes of all internal compartments and organelles (2) proteins, which make up both structural units of the cell such as microtubles and all the enzymes of every biochemical process and (3) nucleic acids and nucleotides, which code for all proteins, act as metabolic energy molecules such as ATP and biochemical regulators such as...
The History Of Herbal Medicine A Capsule Summary
Penelope Ody, in her book, The Complete Medicinal Herbal,1 has compiled a very nice summary on the origins of western herbalism, starting with ancient civilizations of Egypt, the Greeks, and Romans. She continues with Islamic influences from the Arab world, Ayurvedic medicine from ancient India (ajur meaning life and veda meaning knowledge, refers to knowledge of how to live and places emphasis on good health being the responsibility of the individual), and Tibetian herbalism. The legacy of...
Carbohydrate Metabolites
4.4.1 Human Uses of Starch from Plant Storage Organs Starch is a primary energy source for humans. We obtain it in abundance from cereal grains such as wheat (Triticum aestivum), rice (Oryza sativa), barley (Hordeum vulgare), oats (Avena sativa), rye (Secale cereale), and maize (Zea mays). It also occurs in abundance in tubers of potato (Solanum tuberosum), oxalis (Oxalis spp.) and tuberous roots of yam (Dioscorea spp.), yautia (Xan-thosoma brasiliense), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatus) (Figure...
Immunomodulation
The mammalian immune system consists of many cells and signal molecules which act in concert to protect the organism from that which is nonself. The chief cellular effectors are macrophages (big eaters) and white blood cells. Neutrophils and lymphocytes are the most important of the white blood cells. Some of the signal molecules are interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), and y-interferon (IF-y, also known as IL-6). Cells that come in contact with foreign organisms begin to...
Sulfurcontaining Compounds
4.7.1 Functions of Sulfur-Containing Compounds in Garlic in Medicine, Nutrition, and Pest Control 4.7.1.1 Natural History and Association with Humanity15 27 28 Garlic, Allium sativum (Liliaceae or lily family) has an ancient association with humans. It is so ancient that garlic is not found in nature and its exact origins are unknown. The earliest documented occurrence of garlic's use by humans is the fine clay sculptures of garlic cloves found at El Mahasna, Egypt which have been dated to 3750...
Adaptive Functions Of Metabolites In Plants
2.6.1 Sources of Metabolic Energy and Energy Transfer Without a source of metabolic energy or the ability to transfer the energy obtained from the environment through metabolic pathways, a living organism will die. This is why plants devote so much of their time and energy towards the production of pools of compounds that ultimately store the energy of the sun. Plants have several such sources of metabolic energy derived from stored metabolites or from ATP. The stored metabolites include starch...
Aloe Vera L NLBurm Liliaceae Mediterranean Aloe
Aloe contains several anthraquinone glycosides, e.g., aloin (barbaloin), isobar-baloin, and emodin. These anthraquinones share several activities, antiseptic, laxative, even viricidal. Some of the related sennosides have been proven synergistic as laxatives. Sydiskis et al.3 notes that anthraquinones can inactivate enveloped viruses. Are the anthraquinones synergistic or antagonistic as anti-virals Reflecting the natural tendency of investigators to modify natural chemical compounds, often...
Grinding And Extraction Protocols
7.3.1 General Extraction Protocols for Biologically Important Organic Compounds The primary ways for extraction of organic molecules of interest to biologists and medical investigators involve breaking open the cells of the organism under investigation. Cell rupturing is accomplished in a variety of ways. The method used depends on the type of organism being considered and the type of tissue used. For bacterial cells, one usually uses a French press so as to break open the cell walls. This...
Plant Seed Banks For Germplasm Preservation
9.5.1 Plant Introduction Stations in the U.S. Four regional plant-introduction stations in the U.S. are located in Pullman, WA Ames, IA Geneva, N.Y. and Griffin, GA. They are responsible for the management, regeneration, characterization, evaluation, and distribution of seeds of more than one-third of the accessions of the national system i.e., nearly 197,000 accessions of almost 4000 plant species . At Ames, IA, approximately 40,079 accessions are held the primary crops preserved include...
Growing Rare And Endangered Plants In Botanical Gardens And Arboreta How Is It Done
9.4.1 Involvement of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta According to The New York Botanical Garden, of approximately 250,000 species of flowering plants, it is estimated that some 60,000 of these may become extinct by the year 2050, and more than 19,000 species of plants are considered to be threatened or endangered around the world. More than 2000 species of plants native to the U.S. are threatened or endangered, with as many as 700 species becoming extinct in the next 10 years.15 The New York...
Case Studies With Medicinal Plants
8.2.1 Azadirachtin from the Neem Tree Azadirachta indica Neem, Azadiractica indica Juss , in the family Meliaceae, or mahogany family, has a long history of use in human civilization. As with many plant species long used by humanity, its exact origins are unknown. Some have suggested southern India and Burma as the region where neem originated, while others have suggested locations ranging from Indonesia to Iran.1 Neem grows well in dry tropical and subtropical regions, and has been introduced...
Case Studies With Plant Fragrances
Plant fragrances from flowers attract various kinds of pollinators, and other fragrances that come from both flowers and vegetative parts of plants deter predators see Chapter 2 . Many of these same fragrances from plants have utilitarian uses by humans, namely, perfumes, herbal teas, sachets, herbal wreaths, and insect repellents. We grow many fragrance herbs both commercially and in the home garden. Organic gardeners grow some of the insect-repelling herbs as companion plants with flowers and...
