Allelochemics protective

It was emphasized in the two conference reports (36, 37) that proper understanding and application of allelochemicals could lead to potentially increasing the crop productivity by protecting the crop plants from natural toxins and by increasing the crop yields by the action of natural stimulants. 

Others also have proposed that allelochemicals could prove useful in crcp protection, especially for minimizing the agricultural losses due to insects and nematodes, and for controlling diseases. The USDA Research Planning Conference in 1977 estimated that technological advances could reduce substantially the 30 billion in annual losses caused by pests and the cost of their control (37). This conference proposed the following strategies for research Tn allelopathy. 

The first volume ends with a chapter by G. Pohnert on chemical defence in the marine environment. Defense compounds, which can be regarded as allomones, are often, but not always, more complex than other semiochemicals and may have unique modes of action. The biological mechanisms are not always easy to unravel, which is shown by some of examples. The reader may be tempted to compare the chemical complexity with that of terrestrial insect defence, which can be found in the second volume chapter by D. Daloze and J.-C. Braekman. Insects thus do not only produce interesting pheromones, but also complex allelochemicals for their own protection. 

Barbehenn R (2001) Roles of peritrophic membranes in protecting herbivorous insects from ingested plant allelochemicals. Arch Insect Biochem Physiol 47 86-99 Barbehenn RV, Martin MM (1998) Formation of insoluble and colloidally dispersed tannic acid complexes in the midgut fluid ofManduca sexta (Lepidoptera Sphingidae) an explanation for the failure of tannic acid to cross the peritrophic envelopes of lepidopteran larvae. Arch Insect Biochem Physiol 39 109-117... 

Rosenthal. G. A. (1991). Nonprotein amino acids as protective allelochemicals. In Herbivores Their Interaction with Secondary Plant Metabolites, vol. 1, ed. G. A. Rosenthal, and M. R. Berenbaum, pp. 1-34. San Diego, CA Academic Press. 

How to deal with the pests that attack plants under cultivation is a continuing challenge to the food and agricultural production system. Natural resistance or tolerance to pests has proven to be one of the safest and least costly ways to protect plants. As we identify the specific plant components involved and their actions, it will be easier to incorporate the capacity to produce the desired chemical into the plant of Interest. There is the further possibility to identify additional natural chemicals that may be useful as pest control materials. The latter might be through the use of natural products or it might be products of industrial synthesis patterned after the natural products. It is clear that allelochemicals are involved in these complex processes and they hold promise for even a greater role. 

L-Canavanine and L-Canaline Protective Allelochemicals of Certain Leguminous Plants... 

L-Canavanine and L-canaline are non-protein amino acids of certain leguminous plants, that function as protective allelochemicals. L-Canavanine is incorporated into de novo synthesized proteins in place of arginTne there is suggestive evidence that formation of such anomalous proteins figures significantly in canavanine s adverse biological effects. Canavanine, however, does not appear to inhibit overall protein synthesis. Thus, an important basis for canavanine s antimetabolic properties resides in the sustained production of biologically aberrant proteins. 

Tricolorin A (46) and G (47) are prototype members of this class of amphiphilic glycoconjugates (24). They constitute the allelochemical principles of Ipomoea tricolor Cav., a plant used in traditional agriculture in Mexico as a cover crop to protect sugar cane against invasive weeds. Their molecular mechanism of action likely involves the inhibition of the FT-ATPase of the plasma membrane, an enzyme that plays a crucial role in plant cell physiology. Moreover, 46 acts as a natural uncoupler of photophosphorylation in spinach chloroplasts. This compound also displays general cytotoxicity against several... 

G. A. Rosenthal, Nonprotein Amino Acids as Protective Allelochemicals. In Herbivores, 2nd ed. G. A. Rosenthal,... 

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