Book ChapterDOI
Chapter 1 Allelochemical Properties or the Raison D'être of Alkaloids
Michael Wink
- Vol. 43, pp 1-118
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TLDR
Evidence that alkaloids are not waste products or functionless molecules as formerly assumed, but rather defense compounds employed by plants for survival against herbivores and against microorganisms and competing plants is provided.Abstract:
Publisher Summary This chapter provides evidence that alkaloids are not waste products or functionless molecules as formerly assumed, but rather defense compounds employed by plants for survival against herbivores and against microorganisms and competing plants. These molecules were developed during evolution through natural selection in that they fit many important molecular targets, often receptors, of cells, which are seen in molecules that mimic endogenous neurotransmitters. The chapter discusses that microorganisms and herbivores rely on plants as a food source. Since both have survived, there must be mechanisms of adaptations toward the defensive chemistry of plants. Many herbivores have evolved strategies to avoid the extremely toxic plants and prefer the less toxic ones. Many herbivores have potent mechanisms to detoxify xenobiotics, which allow the exploitation of at least the less toxic plants. In insects, many specialists evolved that are adapted to the defense chemicals of their host plant, in that they accumulate these compounds and exploit them for their own defense. Alkaloids function as defense molecules against insect predators in the examples studied, and this is further support for the hypothesis that the same compound also serves for chemical defense in the host plant. It needs more experimental data to understand fully the intricate interconnections between plants, their alkaloids, and herbivores, microorganisms, and other plants.read more
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Sequestration of defensive substances from plants by Lepidoptera.
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Modes of Action of Herbal Medicines and Plant Secondary Metabolites
TL;DR: Evidence is provided that many plant secondary metabolites have a broad spectrum of bioactivities, which can explain the medical application of complex extracts from medicinal plants for more health disorders which involve several targets.
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Attraction, deterrence or intoxication of bees (Apis mellifera) by plant allelochemicals
Andreas Detzel,Michael Wink +1 more
TL;DR: The data show that bees which are confronted with plant allelochemicals in nectar and pollen, are not especially adapted (i.e. insensitive) to the plants' defence chemistry.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Butterflies and plants: a study in coevolution
Paul R. Ehrlich,Peter H. Raven +1 more
TL;DR: The relationship between butterflies and their food plants is investigated, the examination of patterns of interaction between two major groups of organisms with a close and evident ecological relationship, such as plants and herbivores.
Book
Introduction to ecological biochemistry
TL;DR: The Plant and Its Biochemical Adaptation to the Environment, and Higher Plant-Lower Plant Interactions: Phytoalexins and Phytotoxins.