Plants terpenes and

Alicyclic hydrocarbons are saturated carbon chains that form ring structures. Naturally occurring alicyclic hydrocarbons are common (Chap. 1). For example, alicyclic hydrocarbons are a major component of crude oil, comprising 20-67 vol.%. Other examples of complex, naturally occurring alicyclic hydrocarbons include camphor (a plant terpene) and cyclohexyl fatty acids (components of microbial lipids). Anthropogenic sources of alicyclic hydrocarbons to the environment include fossil-fuel processing and oil spills, as well as the use of such agrochemicals as the pyrethrin insecticides (Chap. 1, and references therein). 

Cytochrome P-450 Involvement in the Interactions Between Plant Terpenes and Insect Herbivores... 

It is unquestionably the case that both the economic importance of plant terpenes and their significance in human health will continue to grow (Sangwan et al. 2001). Recent... 

Tetraterpenes. Carotenoids make up the most important group of C q terpenes and terpenoids, although not all carotenoids contain 40 carbon atoms. They are widely distributed in plant, marine, and animal life. It has been estimated that nature produces about 100 million t/yr of carotenoids synthetic production amounts to several hundred tons per year (207,208). 

Essential Oils. Volatile oils from plants are referred to as essential oils. The oils can be obtained through steam distillation, solvent extraction, or separation of the oils from pressed fmit. They consist of oxygenated compounds, terpenes, and sesquiterpenes. The primary flavor components of essential oils are oxygenated compounds. Terpenes contain some flavors but are often removed from the essential oil because they are easily oxidized (causiag off-flavors or odors) and are iasoluble. Essential oils are prepared from fmits, herbs, roots, and spices. 

It is the determination of volatile organic compounds produced from natural products that requires separation techniques that allow isolation of stereoisomers. The most commonly determined groups are the terpene and sesquiterpene species present in essential oils, which are used as key indicators of biological factors such as the growth season, geographic location, climate, etc. These species are also released directly into the atmosphere by very many plants and trees, and make a substantial contribution to global biogeochemical cycles. 

Sample Ko. 1 evidently nnolained much men terpens and less oarvone than sample No. d. Hence it is possible tbal the latter results fiom the oxidation of the former during the ripening of the plant. A body ot high boiling-point, not yel idnnldied, was detected in smaJl njuanlitv in each of these oils. 

Chemically, plant essential oils consist largely of mixtures of compounds known as terpenoids —small organic molecules with an immense diversity of structure. More than 35,000 different terpenoids are known. Some are open-chain molecules, and others contain rings some are hydrocarbons, and others contain oxygen. Hydrocarbon terpenoids, in particular, are known as terpenes, and all contain double bonds. For example ... 

Terpenes (and terpenoids) are further classified according to the number of 5-carbon units they contain. Thus, monoterpenes are 10-carbon substances biosynthesized from two isoprene units, sesquiterpenes are 15-carbon molecules from three isoprene units, diterpenes are 20-carbon substances from four isoprene units, and so on. Monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes are found primarily in plants, but the higher terpenoids occur in both plants and animals, and many have important biological roles. The triterpenoid lanosterol, for example, is the precursor from which all steroid hormones are made. 

Until rather recently, our choice among chemicals repellant to insects was very limited (9), and some of the available remedies seem to have been almost equally repellent to their human users. The most familiar of them undoubtedly is the classical oil of citronella, a mixture of plant terpenes which consists principally of geraniol, citronellol, and citronellal. It is a remarkable coincidence that at least one insect species, an ant discussed by Dr. Happ, also makes use of some of these same terpenes as repellents against other insects. It biosynthesizes them de novo rather than simply taking them from plant sources. Many other examples of insect repellency have been observed (9), and Roth and Eisner (28) list over 30 compounds which have been identified as defense substances of anthropods. 

Essential oils are known to have detrimental effects on plants. The inhibitory components have not been identified, but both alde-hydic (benzol-, citrol-, cinnamal-aldehyde) and phenolic (thymol, carvacol, apiol, safrol) constituents are suspected. Muller et al. (104) demonstrated that volatile toxic materials localized in the leaves of Salvia leucophylla, Salvia apiana, and Arthemisia californica inhibited the root growth of cucumber and oat seedlings. They speculated that in the field, toxic substances from the leaves of these plants might be deposited in dew droplets on adjacent annual plants. In a subsequent paper, Muller and Muller (105) reported that the leaves of S. leucophylla contained several volatile terpenes, and growth inhibition was attributed to camphor and cineole. 

Several unsaturated cyclic hydrocarbons, having the general formula C]qHj5, occur in certain fragrant natural oils that are distilled from plant materials. These hydrocarbons are called terpenes and include pinene (in turpentine) and limonene (in lemon and orange oils). 

Chappell J (2002) The genetics and molecular genetics of terpene and sterol origami. Curr Opin Plant Biol 5 151... 

The biosynthesis of synthetic natural rubber has been completely determined and appears in Fig. 15.1. Many plants and animals use this same biosynthetic pathway to make hundreds of terpenes and steroids from their common isoprenoid building blocks. 

The bulk of plant-derived medicines can be categorized into a number of chemical families, including alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes and terpenoids, steroids (e.g. cardiac glycosides), as well as coumarins, quinines, salicylates and xanthines. A list of some better-known plant-derived drugs is presented in Table 1.16. 

In addition to endogenous heterocycles, there are also medically important exogenous heterocycles. Nature is a great source of molecular diversity, especially for bioactive molecules. Nature provides a rich source of peptidic (penicillin), lipid (terpenes), and other (alkaloid) heterocyclic natural products. These compounds are produced in plants or nonhuman animals, but may exert profound biological effects when administered to humans. 

Rabdosia lasiocarpus (Flayata) Mao Guo Yan Ming Cao (whole plant) Terpenes, oridonin, rubescensins, 5-fluoro uracil.50 This herb is toxic. For carcinomas of esophagus and stomach, antiarthritic, antidotal, febrifuge. 

FIGURE 12-13 Interaction of Gs with adenylyl cyclase. (PDB ID 1AZS) The soluble catalytic core of the adenylyl cyclase (AC, blue), severed from its membrane anchor, was cocrystallized with G,, (green) to give this crystal structure. The plant terpene forskolin (yellow) is a drug that strongly stimulates the enzyme, and GTP (red) bound to Gsa triggers interaction of Gsa with adenylyl cyclase. 

Starting with the simple compounds acetyl-CoA, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, and pyruvate, which arise via the central pathways of metabolism, the key intermediate isopentenyl diphosphate is formed by two independent mutes. It is then converted by bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals into thousands of different naturally occurring products. These include high polymers, such as rubber, as well as vitamins, sterols, carotenoids, and over 30,000 different terpenes and related compounds. Many of the latter are found only in specific plants where they may function as defensive compounds or pheromones. 

---