Chemical ecology
Chemical ecology is the study of chemically mediated interactions between living organisms, and the effects of those interactions on the demography, behavior and ultimately evolution of the organisms involved. It is thus a vast and highly interdisciplinary field.[1][2] Chemical ecologists seek to identify the specific molecules (i.e. semiochemicals) that function as signals mediating community or ecosystem processes and to understand the evolution of these signals. The substances that serve in such roles are typically small, readily-diffusible organic molecules, but can also include larger molecules and small peptides.[3]
In practice, chemical ecology relies extensively on
Plant chemical ecology
Plant chemical ecology focuses on the role of chemical cues and signals in mediating interactions of plants with their biotic environment (e.g. microorganisms, phytophagous insects, and pollinators).
Plant-insect interactions
The chemical ecology of plant-insect interaction is a significant subfield of chemical ecology.
Chemical ecologists also study chemical interactions involved in
Plant-microbe interactions
Plant interactions with
For microbes to gain access to the plant, they must be able to penetrate the layer of wax that forms a
Mycorrhizae and other fungal endophytes may also benefit their host plants by producing antibiotics or other secondary metabolites that ward off harmful fungi, bacteria and herbivores in the soil.[8] Some entomopathogenic fungi can also form endophytic relationships with plants and may even transfer nitrogen directly to plants from insects they consume in the surrounding soil.[9]
Plant-plant interactions
Allelopathy
Many plants produce secondary metabolites (known as
Plant-plant communication
Plants communicate with each other through both airborne and below-ground chemical cues. For example, when damaged by an herbivore, many plants emit an altered bouquet of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Various C6 fatty acids and alcohols (sometimes known as
Marine chemical ecology
Defense
Many marine organisms use chemical defenses to deter predators. For example, some crustaceans and mesograzers, such as the Pseudamphithoides incurvaria, use toxic algae and seaweeds as a shield against predation by covering their bodies in these plants. These plants produce diterpenes such as pachydictyol-A and dictyol-E, which have been shown to deter predators.[citation needed] Other marine organisms produce chemicals endogenously to defend themselves. For example, the finless sole (Pardachirus marmoratus) produces a toxin that paralyzes the jaws of would-be predators. Many zoanthids produce potent toxins, such as palytoxin, which is one of the most poisonous known substances. Some species of these zooanthids are very brightly colored, which may be indicative of aposematic defense.[14]
Reproduction
Many marine organisms use pheromones to find mates. For example, male sea lampreys attract ovulating females by emitting a bile that can be detected many meters downstream.[15] Other processes can be more complex, such as the mating habits of crabs. Due to the fact that female crabs can only mate during a short period after moults from her shell, female crabs produces pheromones before she begins to moult in order to attract a mate. Male crabs will detect these pheromones and defend their potential mate until she has finished molted. However, due to the cannibalistic tendencies of crabs, the female produces an additional pheromone to suppresses cannibalistic instincts in her male guardian. These pheromones are very potent—so much so that they can induce male crabs to try to copulate with rocks or sponges that have been coated in pheromone by researchers.[16]
Dominance
Applications of chemical ecology
Pest control
Chemical ecology has been utilized in the development of sustainable
The successful
Drug development and biochemistry discoveries
A large proportion of commercial drugs (e.g.
History of chemical ecology
After 1950
In 1959, Adolf Butenandt identified the first intraspecific chemical signal (bombykol) from the silk moth, Bombyx mori, with material obtained by grinding up 500,000 moths.[23] The same year, Karlson and Lüscher proposed the term 'pheromone' to describe this type of signal.[24] Also in 1959, Gottfried S. Fraenkel also published his landmark paper, "The Raison d'être of Secondary Plant Substances", arguing that plant secondary metabolites are not metabolic waste products, but actually evolved to protect plants from consumers.[25] Together, these papers marked the beginning of modern chemical ecology. In 1964, Paul R. Ehrlich and Peter H. Raven coauthored a paper proposing their influential theory of escape and radiate coevolution, which suggested that an evolutionary "arms-race" between plants and insects can explain the extreme diversification of plants and insects.[26] The idea that plant metabolites could not only contribute to the survival of individual plants, but could also influence broad macroevolutionary patterns, would turn out to be highly influential. However, Tibor Jermy questioned the view of an evolutionary arms race between plants and their insect herbivores and proposed that the evolution of phytophagous insects followed and follows that of plants without major evolutionary feedback, i.e. without affecting plant evolution.[27] He coined the term sequential evolution to describe plant-insect macroevolutionary patterns, which emphasizes that selection pressure exerted by insect attack on plants is weak or lacking.[28]
In the 1960s and 1970s, a number of plant biologists, ecologists, and entomologists expanded this line of research on the ecological roles of plant secondary metabolites. During this period, Thomas Eisner and his close collaborator Jerrold Meinwald published a series seminal papers on chemical defenses in plants and insects.[29][30] A number of other scientists at Cornell were also working on topics related to chemical ecology during this period, including Paul Feeny, Wendell L. Roelofs, Robert Whittaker and Richard B. Root. In 1968, the first course in chemical ecology was initiated at Cornell.[31] In 1970, Eisner, Whittaker and the ant biologist William L. Brown, Jr. coined the terms allomone (to describe semiochemicals that benefit the emitter, but not the receiver) and kairomone (to describe semiochemicals that benefit the receiver only).[32] Whittaker and Feeny published an influential review paper in Science the following year, summarizing the recent research on the ecological roles of chemical defenses in a wide variety of plants and animals and likely introducing Whittaker's new taxonomy of semiochemicals to a broader scientific audience.[33] Around this time, Lincoln Brower also published a series of important ecological studies on monarch sequestration of cardenolides. Brower has been credited with popularizing the term "ecological chemistry" which appeared in the title of a paper he published in Science in 1968[34] and again the following year in an article he wrote for Scientific American, where the term also appeared on the front cover under an image of a giant bluejay towering over two monarch butterflies.[24][35]
The specialized Journal of Chemical Ecology was established in 1975, and the journal Chemoecology was founded in 1990. In 1984, the International Society of Chemical Ecology was established and in 1996, the Max Planck Institute of Chemical Ecology was founded in Jena, Germany.[24]
See also
- Chemical defense
- Semiochemical
- Chemical ecologists
- May R. Berenbaum
- Lincoln Brower
- Thomas Eisner
- Jerrold Meinwald
- Wendell L. Roelofs
- Escape and radiate coevolution
References
- ^ "What is Chemical Ecology? | Chemical Ecology". NCBS. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
- ^ S2CID 49362070.
- .
- PMID 18353981.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4443-0144-1
- S2CID 49362070.
- S2CID 33373155.
- PMID 26038303.
- ^ Behie, S. W., P. M. Zelisko, and M. J. Bidochka. 2012. Endophytic Insect-Parasitic Fungi Translocate Nitrogen Directly from Insects to Plants. Science 336:1576–1577.
- ^ Duke, S. O. 2010. Allelopathy: Current status of research and future of the discipline: A commentary.
- ^ Willis, R. J. 2000. Juglans spp., juglone and allelopathy. Allelopathy Journal 7:1–55.
- PMID 19246460. Retrieved 2017-10-11.
- ^ Heil, M., and R. Karban. 2010. Explaining evolution of plant communication by airborne signals. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 25:137–144.
- S2CID 34594704.
- S2CID 1688247. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ PMID 21141035.
- ^ a b Witzgall, P., P. Kirsch, and A. Cork. 2010. Sex Pheromones and Their Impact on Pest Management. J Chem Ecol 36:80–100.
- ^ KleinJan. 20, K., 2016, and 1:30 Pm. 2016. So long suckers! Sex pheromone may combat destructive lampreys.
- ^ Saini, R. K., B. O. Orindi, N. Mbahin, J. A. Andoke, P. N. Muasa, D. M. Mbuvi, C. M. Muya, J. A. Pickett, and C. W. Borgemeister. 2017. Protecting cows in small holder farms in East Africa from tsetse flies by mimicking the odor profile of a non-host bovid. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 11:e0005977. Public Library of Science.
- ^ Khan, Z., C. Midega, J. Pittchar, J. Pickett, and T. Bruce. 2011. Push—pull technology: a conservation agriculture approach for integrated management of insect pests, weeds and soil health in Africa. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 9:162–170. Taylor & Francis.
- ^ Caporale, L. H. 1995. Chemical ecology: a view from the pharmaceutical industry. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 92:75–82.
- ^ Martindale, R., and R. A. J. Lester. 2014. On the Discovery of the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Channel. Pp. 1–16 in R. A. J. Lester, ed. Nicotinic Receptors. Springer, New York, NY.
- ^ Wyatt, T. D. 2009. Fifty years of pheromones. Nature 457:262–263. Nature Publishing Group.
- ^ a b c Bergström, G. 2007. Chemical ecology = chemistry + ecology! Pure and Applied Chemistry 79:2305–2323.
- ^ Fraenkel, G. S. 1959. The Raison d’Être of Secondary Plant Substances: These odd chemicals arose as a means of protecting plants from insects and now guide insects to food. Science 129:1466–1470. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- ^ Ehrlich, P. R., and P. H. Raven. 1964. Butterflies and Plants: A Study in Coevolution. Evolution 18:586–608.
- ^ Jermy, Tibor (1984). "Evolution of insect/host plant relationships". The American Naturalist. 124 (5): 609–630.
- ^ Jermy, Tibor (1993). "Evolution of insect-plant relationships - a devil's advocate approach". Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 66 (1): 3–12.
- S2CID 11282193.
- PMID 17814381. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
- ^ "History and Introduction".
- ^ Brown, W. L., T. Eisner, and R. H. Whittaker. 1970. Allomones and Kairomones: Transspecific Chemical Messengers. BioScience 20:21–21. Oxford Academic.
- ^ Whittaker, R. H., and P. P. Feeny. 1971. Allelochemics: Chemical Interactions between Species. Science 171:757–770. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- ^ Brower, L. P., W. N. Ryerson, L. L. Coppinger, and S. C. Glazier. 1968. Ecological Chemistry and the Palatability Spectrum. Science 161:1349–1350. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- ^ "Dr. Lincoln Brower". 3 August 2018.
Further reading
- Berenbaum MR & Robinson GE (2003). "Chemical Communication in a Post-Genomic World [Colloquium introductory article]". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 100 (Suppl 2, November 25): 14513. PMID 14595008.
- Bergström, Gunnar (2007-01-01). "Chemical ecology = chemistry + ecology!". Pure and Applied Chemistry. 79 (12): 2305–2323. S2CID 86385084. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- Wajnberg, Eric; Colazza, Stefano (2013). Chemical Ecology of Insect Parasitoids. Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-118-40952-7.
- B. Harborne, Jeffrey (2001). "Twenty-five years of chemical ecology". Natural Product Reports. 18 (4): 361–379. PMID 11548048. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
- Hartmann, Thomas (2008-03-25). "The lost origin of chemical ecology in the late 19th century". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105 (12): 4541–4546. PMID 18218780.
- Hartmann, Thomas (2007-11-01). "From waste products to ecochemicals: Fifty years research of plant secondary metabolism". Phytochemistry. Highlights in the Evolution of Phytochemistry: 50 Years of the Phytochemical Society of Europe. 68 (22): 2831–2846. PMID 17980895. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
- Johns, Timothy (1996-01-01). The Origins of Human Diet and Medicine: Chemical Ecology. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-1687-2.
- Meinwald, Jerrold; Eisner, Thomas (2008-03-25). "Chemical ecology in retrospect and prospect". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105 (12): 4539–4540. PMID 18353981.
- Putnam, A. R. (1988). "Allelochemicals from Plants as Herbicides" Weed Technology. 2(4): 510–518.
- Raguso, Robert A.; Agrawal, Anurag A.; Douglas, Angela E.; Jander, Georg; Kessler, André; Poveda, Katja; Thaler, Jennifer S. (March 2015). "The raison d'être of chemical ecology". Ecology. 96 (3): 617–630. PMID 26236859.