Properties of allelochemicals

Computational Methods to Study Properties of Allelochemicals and Modelling of... 

To produce QSAR models, a data set containing chemicals within a specified well-defined end-point is necessary. Since our knowledge about the properties of the natural compounds that surround us is very poor, especially for allelochemicals and toxicological evaluation of synthetic pesticides is well documented (regulators oblige the chemical industry to produce experimental data for synthetic chemicals, before they can be marketed), when allelochemicals toxicity values are not available, pesticides with similar structure can be used in the analysis. Therefore suitable data sets can be defined with pesticides and their activities, to predict the toxicity (activity) of the allelochemicals. 

Wink, M. and Twardowski, T. 1992. Allelochemical properties of alkaloids. Effects on plants, bacteria and protein biosynthesis. In Rizvi, S. J. H. and Rizvi, V. (Eds), Allelopathy Basic and Applied Asspects. Chapman Hall, London, 129-150. 

It is nearly impossible to cover the literature exhaustively. Therefore, an overview of the allelochemical properties of alkaloids is presented. Because of the large amount of data (literature up to 1990 is included), the selection of examples must remain subjective to some degree. Nevertheless, the author would be grateful to receive information or publications about relevant omissions. 

Disturbance of reproduction. Quite a number of allelochemicals are known to influence the reproductive system of animals, which ultimately reduces their fitness and numbers. Antihormonal effects could be achieved by mimicking the structure of sexual hormones. These effects are not known for alkaloids yet, but have been confirmed for other natural products. Estrogenic properties have been reported for coumarins, which di-... 

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