B. K. Bailey

Bio: B. K. Bailey is an academic researcher from National Research Council. The author has contributed to research in topics: Noctuidae & Sex Attractants. The author has an hindex of 13, co-authored 23 publications receiving 402 citations.

Characterization of plant coumarins by combined gas chromatography, ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis

Abstract: A method for the characterization of sub-milligram quantities of plant coumarins has been devised. Each compound was purified by gas–liquid chromatography, and the collected material analyzed by a ...

Triunsaturated hydrocarbons, sex pheromone components ofCaenurgina erechtea.

Abstract: (Z,Z,Z)-3,6,9-Eicosatriene and (Z,Z,Z)-3,6,9-heneicosatriene have been identified as components of the sex pheromone of the noctuid,Caenurgina erechtea (Cramer), the forage looper. Structural assignments were made on the basis of spectroscopic and chromatographic data and were confirmed by comparison with synthetic material. Flight tunnel behavioral studies demonstrated that either component, when tested individually, would elicit wing fanning responses in males; however, mixtures of the two components increased this response and were essential for initiation of upwind flight and landing. In field experiments, traps baited with either component alone captured few or no adult forage looper males while those baited with both components captured several target males.

Leaf coumarins of Angelicaarchangelica

Abstract: Coumarin derivatives are abundant in leaves of Angelicaarchangelica, and differ in kind from those of the roots. Angelicin, bergapten, imperatorin, isopimpinellin, xanthotoxin, oxypeucedanin, and five unidentified coumarins were isolated from leaves. A time study of their development was carried out. Methods for the isolation of leaf neutral coumarins are described.

Coumarins and caterpillars: a case for coevolution.

Abstract: Ehrlich and Raven (1964) were among the first to focus on coevolution as a distinct evolutionary process. In their formulation, insect-plant coevolution is a five-step sequence: 1. by mutation and recombination, angiosperms produce novel secondary substances; 2. by chance, these new secondary substances alter the suitability of the plant as food for insects; 3. the plants, released from the restraints imposed by herbivory, undergo evolutionary radiation in a new adaptive zone; 4. by mutation or recombination, insects evolve mechanisms of resistance to the secondary substances; 5. able to exploit a plant resource hitherto excluded from herbivores, the adapted insects enter a new adaptive zone and undergo their own evolutionary radiation. This scenario was inspired by broad patterns of hostplant utilization among families of butterflies (Rhopalocera). Although the schema gained widespread acceptance, to date no specific example demonstrates most or all of the steps in the sequence. This lack of empirical evidence has been the subject of considerable criticism (e.g., Jermy, 1976; Janzen, 1980). Recent experimental work on associations between various insects and plants containing furanocoumarins and related compounds (Berenbaum, 1978, 1980, 1981a, 1981b, 1981c), however, provides a case study with either direct or circumstantial evidence for each part of the coevolutionary process.

Toxicity of angular furanocoumarins to swallowtail butterflies: escalation in a coevolutionary arms race?

Abstract: Xanthotoxin, a linear furanocoumarin occurring in many plants of the family Umbelliferae, is not appreciably toxic to the umbellifer-feeding larvae of Papilio polyxenes (Lepidoptera; Papilionidae), whereas angelicin, an angular furanocoumarin found only in a few relatively advanced tribes of the Umbelliferae, reduces growth rate and fecundity. The biosynthetic pathway leading to angular attachment of the furan ring may thus have been a response within the Umbelliferae to selective pressures exerted by specialized herbivores that had adapted to feeding on linear furanocoumarins.

Pheromones and Evolutionary Relationships of Tortricidae

Abstract: The Tortricidae includes over 5000 species of small moths that are distributed throughout the world. The larvae feed as leafrollers, leaf webbers, leafminers, and stem, root, fruit, and seed borers. Among the members of the two subfamilies that occur in North America, Tortricinae and Olethreutinae, pest species include 53 with common names such as the spruce budworm, codling moth, Oriental fruit moth, redbanded leafroller, grape berry moth, and the pine tip moths. On a world basis discussions of Tortricidae are complicated by differing classifications and names used for family groups. These different classifications may be a reflection of (a) the systematist's interpretations of relative differences or similarities of taxa, (b) the systematist's experience with the fauna on a world basis, and (c) the types of characters used for determining natural relationships among taxa. Phylogenetic relationships of Tortricidae and related families have been postulated by a number of systematists throughout the last century on the basis of morphological and biological characters (25, 38, 39, 58) but no apparent consensus has emerged. Since speciation involves the evolution of reproductive isolating mechanisms, comparative information on a factor important in effecting species specificity could be useful when discussing differing viewpoints on phylogenetic relationships, even at the family level

Atom economy. Palladium-catalyzed formation of coumarins by addition of phenols and alkynoates via a net C-H insertion.

Abstract: A strategy to achieve ortho substitution of phenols initiated by an ortho-palladation to create coumarins was examined Indeed, treatment of alkynoates with electron-rich phenols in the presence of a palladium catalyst and an acid does generate coumarins The scope of the reaction with respect to the phenol and the alkynoates is defined With unsymmetrical aromatic substrates, generally good regioselectivity that reflects the HOMO coefficients can be observed In the course of these studies, numerous important naturally occurring coumarins have been synthesized, including fraxinol methyl ether, ayapin, herniarin, xanthoxyletin, and alloxanthoxyletin The fact that a Pd(0) is the precatalyst rather than a Pd(+2) species and that an acid that reduces Pd(+2) salts, formic acid, functions better than other carboxylic acids raises doubts about the initial working hypothesis A novel mechanism involving a palladium phenoxide formed from a hydridopalladium carboxylate and phenol is invoked to rationalize the results

Patterns of Furanocoumarin Distribution and Insect Herbivory in the Umbelliferae: Plant Chemistry and Community Structure

Abstract: A chemical survey of 12 species of Umbelliferae in Tompkins County, New York, USA, revealed that species possessing furanocoumarins are most frequently found in open habitats: either swamps or thickets (Sium, Cicuta, Angelica spp.) or disturbed areas such as roadsides or old fields (Conium, Pastinaca, Heracleum spp.). Woodland species (Osmorhiza, Zizia spp.) character- istically lack furanocoumarins, though they may possess dihydrofuranocoumarin glycosides. Restric- tion of furanocoumarin production to plants in high-light environments is in keeping with the presumed mechanism of furanocoumarin phototoxicity towards insects, that is, ultraviolet-activated cross link- age of insect DNA. Cluster analysis of the insects on these umbellifers demonstrates that insect herbivores distribute themselves according to host furanocoumarin chemistry. By using a weighting factor that takes into consideration the differential discriminatory powers of specialists and generalists, it was possible to show that the insect faunae of plants containing angular furanocoumarins are more similar to each other than they are to the faunae of plants lacking angular furanocoumarins. The same case holds for the faunae of plants containing linear furanocoumarins, and for plants lacking furanocoumarins al- together. The chemical complexity of a plant species is reflected in the degree of dietary specialization of its insect associates; the more complex the furanocoumarin chemistry, as measured by the number and type of structures, the more specialized the feeding habits of the insects on the plant. Thus, plants lacking furanocoumarins have faunae dominated by generalists while plants with both linear and angular furanocoumarins have faunae dominated by extreme specialists. On the community level, then, it appears that furanocoumarin chemistry can account for patterns in distribution and abundance of insect herbivores on Umbelliferae.