This volume contains reviews which are based on a symposium, given th at the 30 meeting of The Phytochemical Society of North America, held at Laval University in Quebec City, Canada on August 11-15, 1990. During the past two decades, there have been major new developments in methods which can be applied toward the isolation, separation and structure determination of complex natural products. Therefore, the topic of this symposium, "Modem Phytochemical Methods," is a very timely one. The organizers of the symposium recognized that it would not be possible to cover in detail all new advances...

This volume is dedicated to Tsune Kosuge in recognition of his distinguished career as 8 plant biochemist and his many contributions to the field of phytochemistry. Those contributions began over thirty years ago during his doctoral research at Berkeley when Professor Kosuge was examining the metabolism of coumarin precursdrs in leaves of Melilotus alba. The several papers resulting from that doctoral thesis were among the first enzymatic studies ever to be performed in the field of natural (secondary) plant products. It should also be noted that during his doctoral research Professor Kosuge...

Chemical warfare between plants and their herbivores and pathogens was first brought to our attention by the publication 25 years ago of the paper by Fraenkel in Science. There, he pointed out that most plants have similar nutritional characteristics so that the selection of plants by insect herbivores must depend on the relative toxicity of secondary compounds. This led, rather gradually, to a host of papers on plant-herbivore interactions. More or less at the same time, insect physiologists and ecologists were starting to realise the importance of chemical communi- cation systems in...

The biological significance of carbohydrates in glycosyl ated biopolymers emerged from studies on viruses, microbial cells and animal tissues. Plant-related processes, a rela tive newcomer to this area of research, now offer chal lenging questions as regards the roles of glycosyl-con jugates and carbohydrate-binding proteins in such broadly based topics as pollination, fertilization, symbiosis (including nitrogen fixation), the chemical basis of morphogenesis, and the broad area of plant protection. While the impressive accomplishments on model systems, membrane-bound processes, receptor site...

Throughout the tropics, vast areas of rainforest and other biologically diverse lands are being cleared for agricultural or related uses. Rainforests, the most dramatic example of tropical habitat destrucLion, are estimated to be disappearing at the rate of up to 20.4 million hectares per year world-wide (based on FAO estimates; see World Resources 1990-1991, Oxford University Press)- more than 2% of the total area covered by tropical rainforests per year. Destruction of these complex habitats results in the irreversible loss of both plant and animal diversity, and dramatically illustraLes...

The 44th volume of RAP contains articles based on work presented at the 51st annual meeting of the Phytochemical Society of North America. They were selected to showcase exciting examples of current research in plant chemistry, to highlight the diversity in this field spanning analytical chemistry, ethnobotany, biosynthesis, bioactivity, chemical ecology and biotechnology. Specifically, the perspectives paper by Zerbe and Bohlmann summarizes recent findings on the genes and enzymes involved in conifer resin biosynthesis, while papers by Timoshenko et al. and Guerrero-Analco et al. highlight...

Morphological differences between cells and the exis- tence of morphologically distinct particles have been examined since cells were first recognized. Each techno- logical advance in detection and visualization has led to the description of different organelles and cell types. Basic biochemical processes in cells were recognized and are now weIl understood. It is only recently however, that research has expanded to include the specific meta- bolic function of the specialized cell types and organelles. In some cases metabolic roles were recognized when the organelles were first described,...

This series of lectures was delivered at the 29th meeting of the Phytochemical Society of North America, held at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B. C. , Canada on June 16th-20th, 1989. Topics concerning terpenoids, consisting of isoprene units, are now so numerous that a judicious selection for a relatively limited symposium was difficult. We were able to assemble, however, a potpourri of reviews on topical areas of terpenoid chemistry, biochemistry and biology, by scientists who are making exciting contributions and whose work points the way to significant future research....

Diversity within and among living organisms is both a biological impera- tive and a biological conundrum. Phenotypic and genotypic diversity is the critical currency ofecological interactions and the evolution of life. Thus, it is not unexpected to find vast phytochemical diversity among plants. However, among the most compelling questions which arise among those interested in ecological phytochemistry is the extent, nature, and reasons for the diversity of chemieals in plants. The idea that natural products (secondary metabolites) are accidents of metabolism and have no biological function...

This is the second volume since the reintroduction of the Recent Advances in Phytochemistry (RAP) series, an annual journal supported by the Phytochemical Society of North America. Topics appropriate for RAP include the biosynthesis of natural products and regulation of metabolism, the ecology of specialized metabolites and the evolution of their pathways, and the effects of natural products or plants on human health. Research appropriate for RAP involves genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, natural product structural determination and new technology development, medicinal chemistry and...