Plant chemotaxonomy

The occurrence of terpenes is ubiquitous. Natural terpenes are found in plants and animals in minute amounts. Especially in higher plants, terpenes characterize the type of plant (chemotaxonomy) mono- and sesquiterpenes in essential oils, sesqui-, di-, triterpenes in balsams and resins, tetraterpenes in pigments and polyterpenes in latexes.Therefore, terpenes are often emitted from natural products such as citrus fruits or trees, e.g. conifers. 

Diterpenes. 2. Angiosperms—Composition. 3. Angiosperms—Classification. 4. Botanical chemistry. 5. Plant chemotaxonomy. 

Grayer, R. J., Chase, M. W. and Simmonds, M. S. J. 1999. A comparison between chemical and molecular characters for the determination of phylogentic relationships among plant fanrUies An appreciation of Hegnauer s Chemotaxonomie der Pflanzen. Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 27 369-393. 

This example belongs to chemotaxonomy, a discipline that tries to classify and identify organisms (usually plants, but also bacteria, and even insects) by the chemical or biochemical composition (e.g., fingerprint of concentrations of terpenes, phenolic compounds, fatty acids, peptides, or pyrolysis products) (Harbome and Turner 1984 Reynolds 2007 Waterman 2007). Data evaluation in this field is often performed by multivariate techniques. 

Classification based on chemotaxonomy The field of chemotaxonomy attempts to review plant constituents according to plant taxa. Namely, constituents are regarded as markers for evolution as well as the classification of plants. 

Deedat, Y.D. Ellis, C.R. J. Econ. Eta tomol. 1983, 76, 1055. Gibbs, R.D. "Chemotaxonomy of Flowering Plants" McGlll-Queens University Press Montreal and London, 197 4, 4 volunes. 

Smith, P. M. 1976. The Chemotaxonomy of Plants. London Edward Arnold. 

Hegnauer, R. 1967. Chemical characters in plant taxonomy Some possibilities and limitations. Pure and Applied Chemistry, 14 173-187 and, Hegnauer, R. 1986. Phytochemistry and plant taxonomy - An essay of the chemotaxonomy of higher plants. Phytochemistry, 25 1519-1535. 

Wink M, Waterman P. Chemotaxonomy in relation to molecular phylogeny of plants. In Wink, M. (ed.), Biochemistry of plant secondary metabolism. Annual Plant Reviews. Boca Raton Sheffield Academic Press and CRC Press. 1999 300-341. 

Used in the chemotaxonomy of higher plants and as reference substance. in several methods of chromatography ... 

The different terpenoid content of plants has served as a finger printing method helpful in botanical identification, especially in cases where differentiation by morphological characteristics has failed The striking difference in the chemotaxonomy of Jeffery and ponderosa pines serves as an example. The turpentine from the former species consists almost entirely of the paraffinic hydrocarbon ji-lieplaiie. Turpentine from ponderosa pine consists largely of the monoterpenes, 6-pinene and A3-carene. 

Gibbs, R. D., Chemotaxonomy of Flowering Plants, Vols. I-IV. McGill-Queen s University Press, Montreal, London 1974. 

Comparative chemistry is an old discipline originally designed to use chemistry to name and classify plants . The first reports appeared in 1960, and there has been a steady stream ever since (see Reynolds, 2007 for review). Although plants have been the most studied chemotaxonomy, many researchers have applied the same approach to invertebrates, especially insects. 

Biosynthetic studies, unlike the other studies, have not been pursued, possibly because of the technical difficulties of working with an aquatic plant that does not grow well in unnatural conditions. The chemotaxonomy of the genus Nuphar has been reviewed (2, 3). Biological and environmental aspects of Nuphar species have been discussed in a number of publications. 

A monograph on the chemotaxonomy of flowering plants extensively lists plant products and their occurrence by broad chemical type 68 however, lists are not complete, as of 1969, and detailed references are not usually given. A classic lexicon of fragrant materials has been completely revised,69 a review of essential oil analysis covering the period September 1972 to August 1974 has been published,70 and volatile leaf oil analysis in chemosystematic studies has been reviewed.71... 

Many chemotaxonomic studies have been published that consists of lists of phytochemical data, but a significant number of studies are now appearing that probe such questions as the genetics of terpenoid formation, hybridization and clonal variation, and biochemical evolution. Reviews have appeared on the chemotaxonomy of flowering plants,435 and of terpenoid formation in particular,436 on chemistry in botanical classification,437 on leaf oils of conifers,438 and on biochemical evolution in plants 439 the last named is comprehensive and quite outstanding. 

Fig. 13.22 ESI-MS spectra of composite plant samples (Delphinium spp.) used for chemotaxonomy (reserpine was not added for this qualitative comparison). Croup D (Delphinium glaucum, from the Sierra Nevada region) was the most distinct group based on simple qualitative presence or absence of...

This chapter discusses the history and present state of chemotaxonomy in view of our knowledge of the molecular phylogeny of plants. In the second part of this chapter, the possible evolution of secondary metabolism will be elaborated (for a review, see Wink, 2003, 2007). This analysis helps to understand the discrepancies between chemotaxonomy and molecular phylogeny (for a review, see Wink, 2008). 

Wink, M. and Waterman, R. (1999) Chemotaxonomy in relation to molecular phylogeny of plants, in Annual Plant Reviews, Vol. 2 Biochemistry of Plant Secondary Metabolism (ed. M. Wink). Sheffield Academic Rress, Sheffield, pp. 300-41. 

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