Piscicidal Activity and Others

Marchantia polymorpha (probably Conocephalum supradecompositum) (24, 26) contains a piscicidal component. The active compound was ( + )-costunolide (406) which showed moderate piscicidal activity, TLm 2 ppm against killie-fish (Oryzia latipes) (172). Costunolide inhibited penetration of cercariae of the trematode Schistosoma mansoni (77). 

The origin of the bryophytes and the evolutionary relationships among the Hepaticae, the Musci and Anthocerotae have not been clarified. Studies of the evolution and differentiation of the bryophytes from the view point of palaeontology is difficult because of the lack of fossils. Thus chemical investigation of the metabolites of bryophytes and comparison of their chemical constituents with those of algae and pteridophytes may yield important information that will provide insight into the taxonomy of the bryophytes and evolutionary relationships between algae and lower terrestrial plants. 

Gorham(72 ) reported that lunularin (595) and lunularic acid (598) were found in the Hepaticae, but not in the Musci and the Anthocerotae. Chemical differentiation between the Hepaticae and the Musci is also observed with respect to terpenoids and lipophilic aromatic compounds. The Hepaticae produce mono-, sesqui- and diterpenoids as well as lipophilic aromatic compounds. By contrast neither mono- and sesquiterpenoids nor lipophilic aromatic compounds have been found in the Musci which have been analyzed so far, except for the presence of one kaurane-type diterpene (508) in Saelania species (272). This characteristic difference in chemical constituents is due to the following fact. Most species of the Hepaticae possess oil bodies which contain the terpenoids and the lipophilic aromatic compounds, whereas, the Musci do not contain oil bodies. Terpenoids and aromatic compounds are major constituents of the Hepaticae and can be used as important chemosystematic markers at different taxonomic levels 13a, 19, 21, 25a, 26—29, 33, 34, 45—47, 67, 69, 74, 334). Although flavonoids are not major components of the Hepaticae, these can also be used as chemical markers (187—198, 200—205, 259, 264, 310—312, 328, 329). Taxonomic use of biochemical data for all hierarchical levels of the bryophytes was reviewed by Suire and Asakawa (310—312). The chemosystematics of the Marchantiales were reviewed by Markham and Porter (199). 

---