1.
Pine
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A pine is any conifer in the genus Pinus, /ˈpiːnuːs/, of the family Pinaceae. Pinus is the genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The Plant List compiled by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts 126 species names of pines as current, together with 35 unresolved species, the modern English name pine derives from Latin pinus, which some have traced to the Indo-European base *pīt- ‘resin’. Before the 19th century, pines were often referred to as firs, the genus is divided into three subgenera, which can be distinguished by cone, seed, and leaf characters, Pinus subg. Pinus, the yellow, or hard pine group, generally harder wood. Ducampopinus, the foxtail or pinyon group Pinus subg, strobus, the white, or soft pine group, generally with softer wood and five needles per fascicle Most regions of the Northern Hemisphere host some native species of pines. One species crosses the equator in Sumatra to 2°S, in North America, various species occur in regions at latitudes from as far north as 66°N to as far south as 12°N. Various species have been introduced to temperate and subtropical regions of both hemispheres, where they are grown as timber or cultivated as ornamental plants in parks, a number of such introduced species have become invasive and threaten native ecosystems. Pine trees are evergreen, coniferous trees growing 3–80 m tall. The smallest are Siberian dwarf pine and Potosi pinyon, and the tallest is a 81.79 m tall ponderosa pine located in southern Oregons Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, the bark of most pines is thick and scaly, but some species have thin, flaky bark. The branches are produced in regular pseudo whorls, actually a very tight spiral, the spiral growth of branches, needles, and cone scales are arranged in Fibonacci number ratios. The new spring shoots are sometimes called candles, they are covered in brown or whitish bud scales and point upward at first, then turn green. These candles offer foresters a means to evaluate fertility of the soil, pines are long-lived, and typically reach ages of 100–1,000 years, some even more. The longest-lived is the Great Basin bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva, one individual of this species, dubbed Methuselah, is one of the worlds oldest living organisms at around 4,600 years old. This tree can be found in the White Mountains of California, an older tree, now cut down, was dated at 4,900 years old. It was discovered in a grove beneath Wheeler Peak and it is now known as Prometheus after the Greek immortal, pines have four types of leaf, Seed leaves on seedlings, born in a whorl of 4–24. Juvenile leaves, which follow immediately on seedlings and young plants, 2–6 cm long, single, green or often blue-green and these are produced for six months to five years, rarely longer. Scale leaves, similar to bud scales, small, brown and non-photosynthetic, needles, the adult leaves, are green and bundled in clusters called fascicles
2.
Organic chemistry
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Study of structure includes many physical and chemical methods to determine the chemical composition and the chemical constitution of organic compounds and materials. In the modern era, the range extends further into the table, with main group elements, including, Group 1 and 2 organometallic compounds. They either form the basis of, or are important constituents of, many products including pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals and products made from them, plastics, fuels and explosives. Before the nineteenth century, chemists generally believed that compounds obtained from living organisms were endowed with a force that distinguished them from inorganic compounds. According to the concept of vitalism, organic matter was endowed with a vital force, during the first half of the nineteenth century, some of the first systematic studies of organic compounds were reported. Around 1816 Michel Chevreul started a study of soaps made from various fats and he separated the different acids that, in combination with the alkali, produced the soap. Since these were all compounds, he demonstrated that it was possible to make a chemical change in various fats, producing new compounds. In 1828 Friedrich Wöhler produced the chemical urea, a constituent of urine, from inorganic starting materials. The event is now accepted as indeed disproving the doctrine of vitalism. In 1856 William Henry Perkin, while trying to manufacture quinine accidentally produced the organic dye now known as Perkins mauve and his discovery, made widely known through its financial success, greatly increased interest in organic chemistry. A crucial breakthrough for organic chemistry was the concept of chemical structure, ehrlich popularized the concepts of magic bullet drugs and of systematically improving drug therapies. His laboratory made decisive contributions to developing antiserum for diphtheria and standardizing therapeutic serums, early examples of organic reactions and applications were often found because of a combination of luck and preparation for unexpected observations. The latter half of the 19th century however witnessed systematic studies of organic compounds, the development of synthetic indigo is illustrative. The production of indigo from plant sources dropped from 19,000 tons in 1897 to 1,000 tons by 1914 thanks to the methods developed by Adolf von Baeyer. In 2002,17,000 tons of indigo were produced from petrochemicals. In the early part of the 20th Century, polymers and enzymes were shown to be large organic molecules, the multiple-step synthesis of complex organic compounds is called total synthesis. Total synthesis of natural compounds increased in complexity to glucose. For example, cholesterol-related compounds have opened ways to synthesize complex human hormones, since the start of the 20th century, complexity of total syntheses has been increased to include molecules of high complexity such as lysergic acid and vitamin B12
3.
Organic compound
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An organic compound is virtually any chemical compound that contains carbon, although a consensus definition remains elusive and likely arbitrary. Organic compounds are rare terrestrially, but of importance because all known life is based on organic compounds. The most basic petrochemicals are considered the building blocks of organic chemistry, for historical reasons discussed below, a few types of carbon-containing compounds, such as carbides, carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and cyanides are considered inorganic. The distinction between organic and inorganic compounds, while useful in organizing the vast subject of chemistry. Organic chemistry is the science concerned with all aspects of organic compounds, Organic synthesis is the methodology of their preparation. The word organic is historical, dating to the 1st century, for many centuries, Western alchemists believed in vitalism. This is the theory that certain compounds could be synthesized only from their classical elements—earth, water, air, vitalism taught that these organic compounds were fundamentally different from the inorganic compounds that could be obtained from the elements by chemical manipulation. Vitalism survived for a while even after the rise of modern atomic theory and it first came under question in 1824, when Friedrich Wöhler synthesized oxalic acid, a compound known to occur only in living organisms, from cyanogen. A more decisive experiment was Wöhlers 1828 synthesis of urea from the inorganic salts potassium cyanate, urea had long been considered an organic compound, as it was known to occur only in the urine of living organisms. Wöhlers experiments were followed by others, in which increasingly complex organic substances were produced from inorganic ones without the involvement of any living organism. Even though vitalism has been discredited, scientific nomenclature retains the distinction between organic and inorganic compounds, still, even the broadest definition requires excluding alloys that contain carbon, including steel. The C-H definition excludes compounds that are considered organic, neither urea nor oxalic acid is organic by this definition, yet they were two key compounds in the vitalism debate. The IUPAC Blue Book on organic nomenclature specifically mentions urea and oxalic acid, other compounds lacking C-H bonds but traditionally considered organic include benzenehexol, mesoxalic acid, and carbon tetrachloride. Mellitic acid, which contains no C-H bonds, is considered an organic substance in Martian soil. The C-H bond-only rule also leads to somewhat arbitrary divisions in sets of carbon-fluorine compounds, for example, CF4 would be considered by this rule to be inorganic, whereas CF3H would be organic. Organic compounds may be classified in a variety of ways, one major distinction is between natural and synthetic compounds. Another distinction, based on the size of organic compounds, distinguishes between small molecules and polymers, natural compounds refer to those that are produced by plants or animals. Many of these are extracted from natural sources because they would be more expensive to produce artificially
4.
Plant
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Plants are mainly multicellular, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. The term is generally limited to the green plants, which form an unranked clade Viridiplantae. This includes the plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns, clubmosses, hornworts, liverworts, mosses and the green algae. Green plants have cell walls containing cellulose and obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts and their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic and have lost the ability to produce amounts of chlorophyll or to photosynthesize. Plants are characterized by sexual reproduction and alternation of generations, although reproduction is also common. There are about 300–315 thousand species of plants, of which the great majority, green plants provide most of the worlds molecular oxygen and are the basis of most of Earths ecologies, especially on land. Plants that produce grains, fruits and vegetables form humankinds basic foodstuffs, Plants play many roles in culture. They are used as ornaments and, until recently and in variety, they have served as the source of most medicines. The scientific study of plants is known as botany, a branch of biology, Plants are one of the two groups into which all living things were traditionally divided, the other is animals. The division goes back at least as far as Aristotle, who distinguished between plants, which generally do not move, and animals, which often are mobile to catch their food. Much later, when Linnaeus created the basis of the system of scientific classification. Since then, it has become clear that the plant kingdom as originally defined included several unrelated groups, however, these organisms are still often considered plants, particularly in popular contexts. When the name Plantae or plant is applied to a group of organisms or taxon. The evolutionary history of plants is not yet settled. Those which have been called plants are in bold, the way in which the groups of green algae are combined and named varies considerably between authors. Algae comprise several different groups of organisms which produce energy through photosynthesis, most conspicuous among the algae are the seaweeds, multicellular algae that may roughly resemble land plants, but are classified among the brown, red and green algae. Each of these groups also includes various microscopic and single-celled organisms
5.
Pinophyta
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The Pinophyta, also known as Coniferophyta or Coniferae, or commonly as conifers, are a division of vascular land plants containing a single class, Pinopsida. They are gymnosperms, cone-bearing seed plants, all extant conifers are perennial woody plants with secondary growth. The great majority are trees, though a few are shrubs, examples include cedars, Douglas firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauri, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews. As of 1998, the division Pinophyta was estimated to contain eight families,68 genera, although the total number of species is relatively small, conifers are ecologically important. They are the dominant plants over large areas of land, most notably the taiga of the Northern Hemisphere, boreal conifers have many wintertime adaptations. The narrow conical shape of northern conifers, and their downward-drooping limbs, many of them seasonally alter their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing. While tropical rainforests have more biodiversity and turnover, the conifer forests of the world represent the largest terrestrial carbon sink. Conifers are of economic value for softwood lumber and paper production. The earliest conifers in the record date to the late Carboniferous period, possibly arising from Cordaites. Pinophytes, Cycadophytes, and Ginkgophytes all developed at this time, an important adaptation of these gymnosperms was allowing plants to live without being so dependent on water. Other adaptations are pollen and the seed, which allows the embryo to be transported and developed elsewhere, Conifers appear to be one of the taxa that benefited from the Permian–Triassic extinction event, and were the dominant land plants of the Mesozoic. They were overtaken by the plants, which first appeared in the Cretaceous. They were the food of herbivorous dinosaurs, and their resins and poisons would have given protection against herbivores. Reproductive features of modern conifers had evolved by the end of the Mesozoic era, Conifer is a Latin word, a compound of conus and ferre, meaning the one that bears cone. A descriptive name in use for the conifers is Coniferae. Alternatively, descriptive botanical names may also be used at any rank above family and this means that if conifers are considered a division, they may be called Pinophyta or Coniferae. As a class they may be called Pinopsida or Coniferae, as an order they may be called Pinales or Coniferae or Coniferales. Conifers are the largest and economically most important component group of the gymnosperms, the division Pinophyta consists of just one class, Pinopsida, which includes both living and fossil taxa
6.
Insect
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Insects are a class of hexapod invertebrates within the arthropod phylum that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body, three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet, including more than a million described species, the number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million, and potentially represent over 90% of the differing animal life forms on Earth. Insects may be found in all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans. The life cycles of insects vary but most hatch from eggs, insect growth is constrained by the inelastic exoskeleton and development involves a series of molts. The immature stages can differ from the adults in structure, habit and habitat, Insects that undergo 3-stage metamorphosis lack a pupal stage and adults develop through a series of nymphal stages. The higher level relationship of the Hexapoda is unclear, fossilized insects of enormous size have been found from the Paleozoic Era, including giant dragonflies with wingspans of 55 to 70 cm. The most diverse insect groups appear to have coevolved with flowering plants, adult insects typically move about by walking, flying or sometimes swimming. As it allows for rapid yet stable movement, many insects adopt a tripedal gait in which they walk with their legs touching the ground in alternating triangles, Insects are the only invertebrates to have evolved flight. Many insects spend at least part of their lives under water, with adaptations that include gills. Some species, such as water striders, are capable of walking on the surface of water, Insects are mostly solitary, but some, such as certain bees, ants and termites, are social and live in large, well-organized colonies. Some insects, such as earwigs, show maternal care, guarding their eggs, Insects can communicate with each other in a variety of ways. Male moths can sense the pheromones of female moths over great distances, other species communicate with sounds, crickets stridulate, or rub their wings together, to attract a mate and repel other males. Lampyridae in the beetle order communicate with light, humans regard certain insects as pests, and attempt to control them using insecticides and a host of other techniques. Some insects damage crops by feeding on sap, leaves or fruits, a few parasitic species are pathogenic. Some insects perform complex ecological roles, blow-flies, for example, help consume carrion, Many other insects are considered ecologically beneficial as predators and a few provide direct economic benefit. Silkworms and bees have been used extensively by humans for the production of silk and honey, in some cultures, people eat the larvae or adults of certain insects. Insect first appears documented in English in 1601 in Hollands translation of Pliny, translations of Aristotles term also form the usual word for insect in Welsh, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, etc. The evolutionary relationship of insects to other animal groups remains unclear, in the Pancrustacea theory, insects, together with Entognatha, Remipedia, and Cephalocarida, make up a natural clade labeled Miracrustacea
7.
Termite
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Termites are eusocial insects that are classified at the taxonomic rank of infraorder Isoptera, or as epifamily Termitoidae within the cockroach order Blattodea. Termites were once classified in an order from cockroaches. However, the first termites emerged during the Permian or even the Carboniferous. About 3,106 species are described, with a few hundred more left to be described. Although these insects are called white ants, they are not ants. Like ants and some bees and wasps from the separate order Hymenoptera, all colonies have fertile males called kings and one or more fertile females called queens. Termites mostly feed on plant material and cellulose, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil. Termites are major detritivores, particularly in the subtropical and tropical regions, Termites are among the most successful groups of insects on Earth, colonising most landmasses except for Antarctica. Their colonies range in size from a few hundred individuals to enormous societies with several million individuals, Termite queens have the longest lifespan of any insect in the world, with some queens reportedly living up to 30 to 50 years. Unlike ants, which undergo a metamorphosis, each individual termite goes through an incomplete metamorphosis that proceeds through egg, nymph. Colonies are described as superorganisms because the termites form part of a self-regulating entity, Termites are a delicacy in the diet of some human cultures and are used in many traditional medicines. Several hundred species are significant as pests that can cause serious damage to buildings, crops. Some species, such as the West Indian drywood termite, are regarded as invasive species, the infraorder name Isoptera is derived from the Greek words iso and ptera, which refers to the nearly equal size of the fore and hind wings. Termite derives from the Latin and Late Latin word termes, altered by the influence of Latin terere from the earlier word tarmes, Termite nests were commonly known as terminarium or termitaria. In early English, termites were known as wood ants or white ants, the modern term was first used in 1781. DNA analysis from 16S rRNA sequences has supported a hypothesis, originally suggested by Cleveland and colleagues in 1934 and this earlier conclusion had been based on the similarity of the symbiotic gut flagellates in the wood-eating cockroaches to those in certain species of termites regarded as living fossils. In the 1960s additional evidence supporting that hypothesis emerged when F. A. McKittrick noted similar morphological characteristics between some termites and Cryptocercus nymphs. These similarities have led some authors to propose that termites be reclassified as a family, the Termitidae, within the order Blattodea
8.
Swallowtail butterfly
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Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica, the family includes the largest butterflies in the world, the birdwing butterflies of the genus Ornithoptera. Swallowtails have a number of features, for example, the papilionid caterpillar bears a repugnatorial organ called the osmeterium on its prothorax. The osmeterium normally remains hidden, but when threatened, the larva turns it outward through a transverse dorsal groove by inflating it with fluid. The forked appearance of the hindwings, which can be seen when the butterfly is resting with its wings spread. As for its name, Linnaeus chose Papilio for the type genus. For the specific epithets of the genus, Linnaeus applied the names of Greek heroes to the swallowtails, the type species, Papilio machaon honored Machaon, one of the sons of Asclepius, mentioned in the Iliad. As of 2005,552 extant species have been identified which are distributed across the tropical, various species inhabit altitudes ranging from sea level to high mountains, as in the case of most species of Parnassius. Only 12 species are found in Europe and only one species, North America has 40 species, including several tropical species and Parnassius. The northernmost swallowtail is the Siberian Apollo, found in the Arctic Circle in northeastern Yakutia, in the Himalayas, various Apollo species such as Parnassius epaphus, have been found at altitudes of 6,000 meters above sea level. The detailed descriptions of morphological characteristics of the Papilionidae, as quoted in Bingham are as follows, dome-shaped, smooth or obscurely facetted, not as high as wide, somewhat leathery, opaque. Stout, smooth or with a series of tubercles on the dorsum. The second segment has an opening, out of which the larva protrudes at will and an erect, forked, glandular fleshy organ that emits a strong, penetrating. Variable in form but most often curved backwards and it is angulate, with the head truncate or rounded and the back of abdomen is smooth or tuberculate. It is attached by the tail, normally in a perpendicular position, in Parnassius, the pupa is placed in a loose silken web between leaves. Hindwing very frequently has a tail, which may be slender, or broad and spatulate, in one genus, Armandia, the termen of the hindwing is prolonged into tails at the apices of veins 2 and 3 as well as at vein 4. Forewing with all 12 veins present and in addition a short internal vein, vein 1 a, venation – in swallowtails, the second anal vein, 2A, extends up to the wing margin and does not link with the first anal vein, 1A. These veins are fused in other families and 2A does not reach the wing margin
9.
Osmeterium
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The osmeterium is a defensive organ found in all papilionid larvae, in all stages. The organ is situated in the segment and can be everted when the larva feels threatened. The fine structure of the gland of Papilio larvae consists of the following cell types. Ellipsoid gland cells have an extensively infolded basal plasma membrane, abundant ribosomes, the apical plasma membrane bears long microvilli extending into a mass of granular material containing electron-lucid cavities. Tangential slits occur in the epicuticle and these cells are presumed to be organic acid-secreting cells. Tubular arm cells contain heterogeneous, electron-dense inclusions, extensively-branched nuclei, the apical plasma membrane bears short microvilli. The inner, dense epicuticle forms a complex ramifying system and these glandular cells presumably synthesize and secrete the mature secretion. Specific study of Papilio demoleus libanius Fruhstorfer shows the existence of a third type of cell Slack cells. These cells possess papillae, well-developed, rough endoplasmic reticulum, and numerous secretory vacuoles of various sizes and they may function as storage cells. Volatile components of the secretion of Parnassius glacialis consisted of isobutyric acid, 2-methylbutyric acid, studies on osmeterial secretion makes it possible to classify the Papilionid species into two large categories on the basis of the chemical property of osmeterial secretion. One is a group in which the constitution of osmeterial secretion of the last larval instar markedly differs in quality from those of the younger larvae. The results derived from Papilio protenor, P. demodocus and other Papilio species may assign the genus Papilio to this group, the genera Luehdorfia, Graphium and Atrophaneura apparently belong to the other group in which no qualitative change of osmeterial secretion occurs at the last larval ecdysis. This group can be designated as type, which is further subdivisible into three types
10.
Terpenoid
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Most are multicyclic structures that differ from one another not only in functional groups but also in their basic carbon skeletons. These lipids can be found in all classes of living things, about 60% of known natural products are terpenoids. Plant terpenoids are used extensively for their qualities and play a role in traditional herbal remedies. Terpenoids contribute to the scent of eucalyptus, the flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, the color in sunflowers. The steroids and sterols in animals are produced from terpenoid precursors. Sometimes terpenoids are added to proteins, e. g. to enhance their attachment to the cell membrane, terpenes are hydrocarbons resulting from the condensation of several 5-carbon isoprene units. The isoprene unit has the formula CH2=CCH=CH2, terpenoids can be thought of as modified terpenes, wherein methyl groups have been moved or removed, or oxygen atoms added. The Salkowski test can be used to identify the presence of terpenoids, meroterpenes are any compound, including many natural products, having a partial terpenoid structure. There are two pathways that create terpenoids, Many organisms manufacture terpenoids through the HMG-CoA reductase pathway. The reactions take place in the cytosol, the pathway was discovered in the 1950s. It was discovered in the late 1980s, pyruvate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate are converted by DOXP synthase to 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate, and by DOXP reductase to 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate. IPP and DMAPP are the end-products in either pathway, and are the precursors of isoprene, monoterpenoids, diterpenoids, carotenoids, chlorophylls, synthesis of all higher terpenoids proceeds via formation of geranyl pyrophosphate, farnesyl pyrophosphate, and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate. Although both pathways, MVA and MEP, are exclusive in most organisms, interactions between them have been reported in plants and few bacteria species. It is a material for synthesis of vitamin A. List of antioxidants in food List of phytochemicals in food Nutrition Phytochemistry Secondary metabolites IUPAC nomenclature of terpenoids
11.
Hydrocarbon
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In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon, and thus are group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons from which one atom has been removed are functional groups. Aromatic hydrocarbons, alkanes, alkenes, cycloalkanes and alkyne-based compounds are different types of hydrocarbons, the classifications for hydrocarbons, defined by IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry are as follows, Saturated hydrocarbons are the simplest of the hydrocarbon species. They are composed entirely of single bonds and are saturated with hydrogen, the formula for acyclic saturated hydrocarbons is CnH2n+2. The most general form of saturated hydrocarbons is CnH2n+2, where r is the number of rings and those with exactly one ring are the cycloalkanes. Saturated hydrocarbons are the basis of petroleum fuels and are found as linear or branched species. Substitution reaction is their characteristics property, hydrocarbons with the same molecular formula but different structural formulae are called structural isomers. As given in the example of 3-methylhexane and its higher homologues, chiral saturated hydrocarbons constitute the side chains of biomolecules such as chlorophyll and tocopherol. Unsaturated hydrocarbons have one or more double or triple bonds between carbon atoms and those with double bond are called alkenes. Those with one double bond have the formula CnH2n and those containing triple bonds are called alkyne. Those with one triple bond have the formula CnH2n−2, aromatic hydrocarbons, also known as arenes, are hydrocarbons that have at least one aromatic ring. Hydrocarbons can be gases, liquids, waxes or low melting solids or polymers, in terms of shells, carbon consists of an incomplete outer shell, which comprises 4 electrons, and thus has 4 electrons available for covalent or dative bonding. Some hydrocarbons also are abundant in the solar system, lakes of liquid methane and ethane have been found on Titan, Saturns largest moon, confirmed by the Cassini-Huygens Mission. Hydrocarbons are also abundant in nebulae forming polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds, hydrocarbons are a primary energy source for current civilizations. The predominant use of hydrocarbons is as a fuel source. In their solid form, hydrocarbons take the form of asphalt, mixtures of volatile hydrocarbons are now used in preference to the chlorofluorocarbons as a propellant for aerosol sprays, due to chlorofluorocarbons impact on the ozone layer. Methane and ethane are gaseous at ambient temperatures and cannot be liquefied by pressure alone. Propane is however easily liquefied, and exists in propane bottles mostly as a liquid, butane is so easily liquefied that it provides a safe, volatile fuel for small pocket lighters
12.
Functional group
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In organic chemistry, functional groups are specific groups of atoms or bonds within molecules that are responsible for the characteristic chemical reactions of those molecules. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reaction regardless of the size of the molecule it is a part of, however, its relative reactivity can be modified by other functional groups nearby. The atoms of functional groups are linked to other and to the rest of the molecule by covalent bonds. Any subgroup of atoms of a compound also may be called a radical, and if a covalent bond is broken homolytically, Functional groups can also be charged, e. g. in carboxylate salts, which turns the molecule into a polyatomic ion or a complex ion. Complexation and solvation is also caused by interactions of functional groups. In the common rule of thumb like dissolves like, it is the shared or mutually well-interacting functional groups give rise to solubility. For example, sugar dissolves in water because both share the functional group and hydroxyls interact strongly with each other. Combining the names of groups with the names of the parent alkanes generates what is termed a systematic nomenclature for naming organic compounds. In traditional nomenclature, the first carbon atom after the carbon that attaches to the group is called the alpha carbon, the second, beta carbon. IUPAC conventions call for numeric labeling of the position, e. g. 4-aminobutanoic acid, in traditional names various qualifiers are used to label isomers, for example isopropanol is an isomer is n-propanol. The following is a list of functional groups. In the formulas, the symbols R and R usually denote an attached hydrogen, or a side chain of any length. Functional groups, called hydrocarbyl, that only carbon and hydrogen. Each one differs in type of reactivity, there are also a large number of branched or ring alkanes that have specific names, e. g. tert-butyl, bornyl, cyclohexyl, etc. Hydrocarbons may form charged structures, positively charged carbocations or negative carbanions, examples are tropylium and triphenylmethyl cations and the cyclopentadienyl anion. Haloalkanes are a class of molecule that is defined by a carbon–halogen bond and this bond can be relatively weak or quite stable. In general, with the exception of fluorinated compounds, haloalkanes readily undergo nucleophilic substitution reactions or elimination reactions, the substitution on the carbon, the acidity of an adjacent proton, the solvent conditions, etc. all can influence the outcome of the reactivity. Compounds that contain nitrogen in this category may contain C-O bonds, compounds that contain sulfur exhibit unique chemistry due to their ability to form more bonds than oxygen, their lighter analogue on the periodic table
13.
Resin
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In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. They are often mixtures of compounds, principally terpenes. Many plants, particularly woody plants, produce resin in response to injury, the resin acts as a bandage protecting the plant from invading insects and pathogens. Plants secrete resins and rosins for their protective benefits, the resin produced by most plants is composed mainly of terpenes and derivatives. Some resins also contain a proportion of resin acids. The individual components of resin can be separated by fractional distillation, rosins on the other hand are less volatile and consist, inter alia, of diterpenes. Amber is fossil resin from coniferous and other tree species, copal, kauri gum, dammar and other resins may also be found as subfossil deposits. Subfossil copal can be distinguished from genuine fossil amber because it becomes tacky when a drop of a solvent such as acetone or chloroform is placed on it, african copal and the kauri gum of New Zealand are also procured in a semi-fossil condition. Solidified resin from which the volatile terpene components have been removed by distillation is known as rosin, typical rosin is a transparent or translucent mass, with a vitreous fracture and a faintly yellow or brown colour, non-odorous or having only a slight turpentine odor and taste. Rosin is insoluble in water, mostly soluble in alcohol, essential oils, ether and hot fatty oils, and softens and melts under the influence of heat, rosin consists of a complex mixture of different substances including organic acids named the resin acids. These are closely related to the terpenes, and derive from them through partial oxidation, Resin acids can be dissolved in alkalis to form resin soaps, from which the purified resin acids are regenerated by treatment with acids. Examples of resin acids are abietic acid, C20H30O2, plicatic acid contained in cedar, and pimaric acid, C20H30O2, a constituent of galipot resin. Abietic acid can also be extracted from rosin by means of hot alcohol, it crystallizes in leaflets, pimaric acid closely resembles abietic acid into which it passes when distilled in a vacuum, it has been supposed to consist of three isomers. Rosin is obtained from pines and some plants, mostly conifers. Propolis, consisting largely of resins collected from such as poplars and conifers, is used by honey bees to seal gaps in their hives. Shellac and lacquer are examples of insect-derived resins, asphaltite and Utah resin are petroleum bitumens, not a product secreted by plants, although it was ultimately derived from plants. These were highly prized substances, and required as incense in religious rites. The word resin has been applied in the world to nearly any component of a liquid that will set into a hard lacquer or enamel-like finish
14.
Turpentine
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Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from live trees, mainly pines. It is mainly used as a solvent and as a source of materials for organic synthesis, Turpentine is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene with lesser amounts of carene, camphene, dipentene, and terpinolene. The word turpentine derives from the Greek word τερεβινθίνη terebinthine, the name of a species of tree, mineral turpentine or other petroleum distillates are used to replace turpentine, but they are very different chemically. One of the earliest sources was the terebinth or turpentine tree, important pines for turpentine production include, maritime pine, Aleppo pine, Massons pine, Sumatran pine, longleaf pine, loblolly pine and ponderosa pine. Canada balsam, also called Canada turpentine or balsam of fir, is a turpentine which is made from the oleoresin of the balsam fir, venice turpentine is produced from the western larch Larix occidentalis. In order to tap into the sap producing layers of the tree, once debarked, pine trees secrete oleoresin onto the surface of the wound as a protective measure to seal the opening, resist exposure to micro-organisms and insects, and prevent vital sap loss. Turpentiners wounded trees in V-shaped streaks down the length of the trunks so as to channel the oleoresin into containers and it was then collected and processed into spirits of turpentine. Oleoresin yield may be increased by as much as 40% by applying herbicides to the exposed wood. The V-shaped cuts are called catfaces for their resemblance to a cat’s whiskers and these marks on a pine tree signify it was used to collect resin for turpentine production. Crude oleoresin collected from wounded trees may be evaporated by steam distillation in a copper still, molten rosin remains in the still bottoms after turpentine has been evaporated and recovered from a condenser. Turpentine may alternatively be condensed from destructive distillation of pine wood, oleoresin may also be extracted from shredded pine stumps, roots, and slash using the light end of the heavy naphtha fraction from a crude oil refinery. Leached wood is steamed for additional naphtha recovery prior to burning for energy recovery, when producing chemical wood pulp from pines or other coniferous trees, sulfate turpentine may be condensed from the gas generated in Kraft process pulp digesters. The average yield of crude sulfate turpentine is 5–10 kg/t pulp, unless burned at the mill for energy production, sulfate turpentine may require additional treatment measures to remove traces of sulfur compounds. The two primary uses of turpentine in industry are as a solvent and as a source of materials for organic synthesis, as a solvent, turpentine is used for thinning oil-based paints, for producing varnishes, and as a raw material for the chemical industry. Its industrial use as a solvent in industrialized nations has largely replaced by the much cheaper turpentine substitutes distilled from crude oil. Turpentine has long used as a solvent, mixed with beeswax or with carnauba wax. Turpentine is also used as a source of raw materials in the synthesis of fragrant chemical compounds, commercially used camphor, linalool, alpha-terpineol, and geraniol are all usually produced from alpha-pinene and beta-pinene, which are two of the chief chemical components of turpentine. These pinenes are separated and purified by distillation, the mixture of diterpenes and triterpenes that is left as residue after turpentine distillation is sold as rosin
15.
Steroids
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A steroid is an organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific configuration. Examples include the dietary lipid cholesterol, the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, the steroid core structure is composed of seventeen carbon atoms, bonded in four fused rings, three six-member cyclohexane rings and one five-member cyclopentane ring. Steroids vary by the groups attached to this four-ring core. Sterols are forms of steroids with a group at position three and a skeleton derived from cholestane. They can also vary more markedly by changes to the ring structure, hundreds of steroids are found in plants, animals and fungi. All steroids are manufactured in cells from the sterols lanosterol or cycloartenol, lanosterol and cycloartenol are derived from the cyclization of the triterpene squalene. The three cyclohexane rings form the skeleton of a derivative of phenanthrene. The D ring has a cyclopentane structure, when the two methyl groups and eight carbon side chains are present, the steroid is said to have a cholestane framework. The following are some categories of steroids. In eukaryotes, steroids are found in fungi, animals, animal steroids include compounds of vertebrate and insect origin, the latter including ecdysteroids such as ecdysterone. Steroid hormones include, Sex hormones, which influence sex differences and these include androgens, estrogens, and progestagens. In popular use, the term often refers to anabolic steroids. Plant steroids include steroidal alkaloids found in Solanaceae, the phytosterols, in prokaryotes, biosynthetic pathways exist for the tetracyclic steroid framework – where its origin from eukaryotes is conjectured – and the more-common pentacyclic triterpinoid hopanoid framework. One example of how MeSH performs this classification is available at the Wikipedia MeSH catalog, examples of this classification include, The gonane is the parent 17-carbon tetracyclic hydrocarbon molecule with no alkyl sidechains. Secosteroids are a subclass of steroidal compounds resulting, biosynthetically or conceptually, major secosteroid subclasses are defined by the steroid carbon atoms where this scission has taken place. Norsteroids and homosteroids are structural subclasses of steroids formed from biosynthetic steps, the former involves enzymic ring expansion-contraction reactions, and the latter is accomplished or through ring closures of acyclic precursors with more ring atoms than the parent steroid framework. Combinations of these alterations are known in nature. Ingestion of these C-nor-D-homosteroids results in defects in lambs, cyclopia from cyclopamine
16.
Redox
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Redox is a chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of atoms are changed. Any such reaction involves both a process and a complementary oxidation process, two key concepts involved with electron transfer processes. Redox reactions include all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation state changed, in general, the chemical species from which the electron is stripped is said to have been oxidized, while the chemical species to which the electron is added is said to have been reduced. It can be explained in terms, Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in oxidation state by a molecule, atom. Reduction is the gain of electrons or a decrease in state by a molecule, atom. As an example, during the combustion of wood, oxygen from the air is reduced, the reaction can occur relatively slowly, as in the case of rust, or more quickly, as in the case of fire. Redox is a portmanteau of reduction and oxidation, the word oxidation originally implied reaction with oxygen to form an oxide, since dioxygen was historically the first recognized oxidizing agent. Later, the term was expanded to encompass oxygen-like substances that accomplished parallel chemical reactions, ultimately, the meaning was generalized to include all processes involving loss of electrons. The word reduction originally referred to the loss in weight upon heating a metallic ore such as an oxide to extract the metal. In other words, ore was reduced to metal, antoine Lavoisier showed that this loss of weight was due to the loss of oxygen as a gas. Later, scientists realized that the atom gains electrons in this process. The meaning of reduction then became generalized to all processes involving gain of electrons. Even though reduction seems counter-intuitive when speaking of the gain of electrons, it help to think of reduction as the loss of oxygen. Since electrons are charged, it is also helpful to think of this as reduction in electrical charge. The electrochemist John Bockris has used the words electronation and deelectronation to describe reduction and oxidation processes respectively when they occur at electrodes and these words are analogous to protonation and deprotonation, but they have not been widely adopted by chemists. The term hydrogenation could be used instead of reduction, since hydrogen is the agent in a large number of reactions. But, unlike oxidation, which has been generalized beyond its root element, the word redox was first used in 1928. The processes of oxidation and reduction occur simultaneously and cannot happen independently of one another, the oxidation alone and the reduction alone are each called a half-reaction, because two half-reactions always occur together to form a whole reaction
17.
Isoprenoid
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Most are multicyclic structures that differ from one another not only in functional groups but also in their basic carbon skeletons. These lipids can be found in all classes of living things, about 60% of known natural products are terpenoids. Plant terpenoids are used extensively for their qualities and play a role in traditional herbal remedies. Terpenoids contribute to the scent of eucalyptus, the flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, the color in sunflowers. The steroids and sterols in animals are produced from terpenoid precursors. Sometimes terpenoids are added to proteins, e. g. to enhance their attachment to the cell membrane, terpenes are hydrocarbons resulting from the condensation of several 5-carbon isoprene units. The isoprene unit has the formula CH2=CCH=CH2, terpenoids can be thought of as modified terpenes, wherein methyl groups have been moved or removed, or oxygen atoms added. The Salkowski test can be used to identify the presence of terpenoids, meroterpenes are any compound, including many natural products, having a partial terpenoid structure. There are two pathways that create terpenoids, Many organisms manufacture terpenoids through the HMG-CoA reductase pathway. The reactions take place in the cytosol, the pathway was discovered in the 1950s. It was discovered in the late 1980s, pyruvate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate are converted by DOXP synthase to 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate, and by DOXP reductase to 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate. IPP and DMAPP are the end-products in either pathway, and are the precursors of isoprene, monoterpenoids, diterpenoids, carotenoids, chlorophylls, synthesis of all higher terpenoids proceeds via formation of geranyl pyrophosphate, farnesyl pyrophosphate, and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate. Although both pathways, MVA and MEP, are exclusive in most organisms, interactions between them have been reported in plants and few bacteria species. It is a material for synthesis of vitamin A. List of antioxidants in food List of phytochemicals in food Nutrition Phytochemistry Secondary metabolites IUPAC nomenclature of terpenoids
18.
Essential oil
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Not to be confused with Essential fatty acid An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetherolea, or simply as the oil of the plant from which they were extracted. An oil is essential in the sense that it contains the essence of the plants fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived, Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation, often by using steam. Other processes include expression, solvent extraction, absolute oil extraction, resin tapping and they are used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps and other products, for flavoring food and drink, and for adding scents to incense and household cleaning products. Essential oils have been used throughout history. The earliest recorded mention of the techniques and methods used to produce essential oils is believed to be that of Ibn al-Baitar, rather than refer to essential oils themselves, modern works typically discuss specific chemical compounds of which the essential oils are composed. For example, methyl salicylate rather than oil of wintergreen, interest in essential oils has revived in recent decades with the popularity of aromatherapy, a branch of alternative medicine that uses essential oils and other aromatic compounds. Oils are volatilized, diluted in an oil and used in massage, diffused in the air by a nebulizer, heated over a candle flame. Claims for the efficacy of treatments, and treatment of cancers in particular, are now subject to regulation in most countries. Most common essential oils such as lavender, peppermint, tea oil, patchouli. Raw plant material, consisting of the flowers, leaves, wood, bark, roots, seeds, as the water is heated, the steam passes through the plant material, vaporizing the volatile compounds. The vapors flow through a coil, where they condense back to liquid, most oils are distilled in a single process. One exception is ylang-ylang which is purifed through a fractional distillation, the recondensed water is referred to as a hydrosol, hydrolat, herbal distillate, or plant water essence, which may be sold as another fragrant product. Popular hydrosols include rose water, lavender water, lemon balm, clary sage, the use of herbal distillates in cosmetics is increasing. Some plant hydrosols have unpleasant smells and are not sold. Most citrus peel oils are expressed mechanically or cold-pressed, due to the relatively large quantities of oil in citrus peel and low cost to grow and harvest the raw materials, citrus-fruit oils are cheaper than most other essential oils. Lemon or sweet orange oils are obtained as byproducts of the citrus industry, before the discovery of distillation, all essential oils were extracted by pressing. Most flowers contain too little oil to undergo expression, but their chemical components are too delicate
19.
Medicinal plants
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Medicinal plants, medicinal herbs, or simply herbs have been identified and used from prehistoric times. Plants make many chemical compounds for biological functions, including defence against insects, fungi, over 12,000 active compounds are known to science. These chemicals work on the body in exactly the same way as pharmaceutical drugs. However, since a plant may contain many substances, the effects of taking a plant as medicine can be complex. The earliest historical records of herbs are found from the Sumerian civilisation, drug research makes use of ethnobotany to search for pharmacologically active substances in nature, and has in this way discovered hundreds of useful compounds. These include the common drugs aspirin, digoxin, quinine, the compounds found in plants are of many kinds, but most are in four major biochemical classes, the alkaloids, glycosides, polyphenols, and terpenes. Medicinal plants are used to treat disease in non-industrialized societies. The annual global export value of plants in 2012 was over US$2.2 billion. Plants, including many now used as herbs and spices, have been used as medicines from prehistoric times. Spices have been used partly to counter food spoilage bacteria, especially in hot climates, angiosperms were the original source of most plant medicines. Human settlements are surrounded by weeds useful as medicines, such as nettle, dandelion. Humans were not alone in using herbs as medicines, some such as non-human primates, monarch butterflies. Plant samples from prehistoric sites are among the lines of evidence that Paleolithic peoples had knowledge of herbal medicine. The mushroom was used to treat whipworm. In ancient Sumeria, hundreds of plants including myrrh and opium are listed on clay tablets. The ancient Egyptian Ebers Papyrus lists over 800 plant medicines such as aloe, cannabis, castor bean, garlic, juniper, the Chinese pharmacopoeia, the Shennong Ben Cao Jing records plant medicines such as chaulmoogra for leprosy, ephedra, and hemp. This was expanded in the Tang Dynasty Yaoxing Lun, in the fourth century BC, Aristotles pupil Theophrastus wrote the first systematic botany text, Historia plantarum. In the Early Middle Ages, Benedictine monasteries preserved medical knowledge in Europe, translating and copying classical texts, hildegard of Bingen wrote Causae et Curae on medicine
20.
Tradition
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A tradition is a belief or behavior passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes, there are about 150 new traditions made each year. Traditions can persist and evolve for thousands of years—the word tradition itself derives from the Latin tradere or traderer literally meaning to transmit, to hand over, to give for safekeeping. While it is assumed that traditions have ancient history, many traditions have been invented on purpose, whether that be political or cultural. Various academic disciplines also use the word in a variety of ways, one way tradition is used more simply, often in academic work but elsewhere also, is to indicate the quality of a piece of information being discussed. For example, According to tradition, Homer was born on Chios and this tradition may never be proven or disproven. In another example, King Arthur, by tradition a true British king, has inspired many well loved stories, of course whether they are documented fact or not does not decrease their value as cultural history and literature. Aside from this use in describing the quality of information, various scholarly fields define the term differently, for example, anthropology and biology have each defined tradition it more precisely than in conventional, as described below, in order to facilitate scholarly discourse. The concept of tradition, as the notion of holding on to a time, is also found in political and philosophical discourse. For example, it is the basis of the concept of traditionalism. In artistic contexts, tradition is used to decide the correct display of an art form, for example, in the performance of traditional genres, adherence to guidelines dictating how an art form should be composed are given greater importance than the performers own preferences. A number of factors can exacerbate the loss of tradition, including industrialization, globalization, in response to this, tradition-preservation attempts have now been started in many countries around the world, focusing on aspects such as traditional languages. Tradition is usually contrasted with the goal of modernity and should be differentiated from customs, conventions, laws, norms, routines, rules and similar concepts. The English word tradition comes from the Latin traditio, the noun from the verb traderere or tradere, it was used in Roman law to refer to the concept of legal transfers. As with many other terms, there are many definitions of tradition. Tradition can also refer to beliefs or customs that are Prehistoric, with lost or arcane origins, originally, traditions were passed orally, without the need for a writing system. Tools to aid this process include poetic devices such as rhyme, the stories thus preserved are also referred to as tradition, or as part of an oral tradition. Even such traditions, however, are presumed to have originated at some point, Traditions are often presumed to be ancient, unalterable, and deeply important, though they may sometimes be much less natural than is presumed
21.
Alternative medicine
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Alternative therapies or diagnoses are not part of medicine or science-based healthcare systems. Contrary to popular belief, significant expense is paid to test alternative medicine, almost none show any effect beyond that of false treatment. Alternative treatments are neither the same as experimental medicine, nor traditional medicine — although the latter, Alternative medicine has grown in popularity and is used by a significant percentage of the population in many countries. While it has rebranded itself, from quackery to complementary or integrative medicine—it promotes essentially the same practices. Newer proponents often suggest alternative medicine be used together with medical treatment. Despite being illegal to market alternative therapies for treatment in most of the developed world. Alternative therapies are based on religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural energies, pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud. Regulation and licensing of alternative medicine and health care providers varies between and within countries, Alternative medicine is criticized for being based on misleading statements, quackery, pseudoscience, antiscience, fraud, or poor scientific methodology. Promoting alternative medicine has been called dangerous and unethical, testing alternative medicine that has no scientific basis has been called a waste of scarce research resources. It has been suggested that the very idea of any alternative treatment that works is paradoxical. Practitioners of complementary medicine usually discuss and advise patients as to available alternative therapies, patients often express interest in mind-body complementary therapies because they offer a non-drug approach to treating some health conditions. In addition to the underpinnings of the popularity of alternative medicine. One of the most critical is the placebo effect—a well-established observation in medicine, CAMs popularity may be related to other factors that Edzard Ernst mentioned in an interview in The Independent, Why is it so popular, then. Ernst blames the providers, customers and the doctors whose neglect, there are 40 million websites and 39.9 million tell lies, sometimes outrageous lies. They mislead cancer patients, who are encouraged not only to pay their last penny, at the same time, people are gullible. It needs gullibility for the industry to succeed and it doesnt make me popular with the public, but its the truth. An analysis of the reasons why this is so points towards the relationship as a key factor. Providers of CAM tend to build better therapeutic relationships than mainstream healthcare professionals, in turn, this implies that much of the popularity of CAM is a poignant criticism of the failure of mainstream healthcare
22.
Vitamin A
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Vitamin A is a group of unsaturated nutritional organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal, retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids. Vitamin A has multiple functions, it is important for growth and development, for the maintenance of the immune system and good vision. Vitamin A is needed by the retina of the eye in the form of retinal, which combines with protein opsin to form rhodopsin, Vitamin A also functions in a very different role as retinoic acid, which is an important hormone-like growth factor for epithelial and other cells. In foods of animal origin, the form of vitamin A is an ester, primarily retinyl palmitate. The retinol form functions as a form of the vitamin. All forms of vitamin A have a ring to which an isoprenoid chain is attached, called a retinyl group. Both structural features are essential for vitamin activity, the orange pigment of carrots can be represented as two connected retinyl groups, which are used in the body to contribute to vitamin A levels. Alpha-carotene and gamma-carotene also have a single group, which give them some vitamin activity. None of the other carotenes have vitamin activity, the carotenoid beta-cryptoxanthin possesses an ionone group and has vitamin activity in humans. Vitamin A can be found in two forms in foods, Retinol, the form of vitamin A absorbed when eating animal food sources, is a yellow. Since the pure form is unstable, the vitamin is found in tissues in a form of retinyl ester. It is also produced and administered as esters such as retinyl acetate or palmitate. Vitamin A deficiency is estimated to approximately one third of children under the age of five around the world. It is estimated to claim the lives of 670,000 children under five annually, approximately 250, 000–500,000 children in developing countries become blind each year owing to vitamin A deficiency, with the highest prevalence in Southeast Asia and Africa. Vitamin A deficiency is the cause of preventable childhood blindness. It also increases the risk of death from common childhood conditions such as diarrhea, UNICEF regards addressing vitamin A deficiency as critical to reducing child mortality, the fourth of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Vitamin A deficiency can occur as either a primary or a secondary deficiency, early weaning from breastmilk can also increase the risk of vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A is a vitamin and depends on micellar solubilization for dispersion into the small intestine
23.
Cloud seeding
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The usual intent is to increase precipitation, but hail and fog suppression are also widely practiced in airports. Cloud seeding also occurs due to ice nucleators in nature, most of which are bacterial in origin, the most common chemicals used for cloud seeding include silver iodide, potassium iodide and dry ice. Liquid propane, which expands into a gas, has also been used and this can produce ice crystals at higher temperatures than silver iodide. After promising research, the use of materials, such as table salt, is becoming more popular. When Cloud seeding increases snowfall takes place when temperatures within the clouds are between 19 and −4 °F, introduction of a substance such as silver iodide, which has a crystalline structure similar to that of ice, will induce freezing nucleation. In mid-latitude clouds, the usual seeding strategy has been based on the fact that the vapor pressure is lower over ice than over water. The formation of ice particles in super cooled clouds allows those particles to grow at the expense of liquid droplets, if sufficient growth takes place, the particles become heavy enough to fall as precipitation from clouds that otherwise would produce no precipitation. This process is known as static seeding, Seeding of warm-season or tropical cumulonimbus clouds seeks to exploit the latent heat released by freezing. Cloud seeding chemicals may be dispersed by aircraft or by dispersion devices located on the ground, for release by aircraft, silver iodide flares are ignited and dispersed as an aircraft flies through the inflow of a cloud. When released by devices on the ground, the particles are carried downwind. An electronic mechanism was tested in 2010, when infrared laser pulses were directed to the air above Berlin by researchers from the University of Geneva, the experimenters posited that the pulses would encourage atmospheric sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide to form particles that would then act as seeds. Cloud seeding has never been proven to work. Claims are made that new technology and research has produced results that make cloud seeding a dependable and affordable water supply practice for many regions. But while practiced widely around the world, the effectiveness of cloud seeding is still a matter of academic debate, in 2003 the US National Research Council released a report stating. science is unable to say with assurance which, if any, seeding techniques produce positive effects. In the 55 years following the first cloud-seeding demonstrations, substantial progress has made in understanding the natural processes that account for our daily weather. Yet scientifically acceptable proof for significant seeding effects has not been achieved, referring to 1903,1915,1919,1944, and 1947 weather modification experiments, the Australian Federation of Meteorology discounted rain making. By the 1950s, the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics switched to investigating the physics of clouds and had hoped by 1957 to better understand these processes. By the 1960s, the dreams of making had faded only to be re-ignited post-corporatisation of the Snowy Mountains Scheme in order to achieve above target water
24.
Hops
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Hops are the flowers of the hop plant Humulus lupulus. The hop plant is a vigorous, climbing, herbaceous perennial, usually trained to grow up strings in a called a hopfield, hop garden. Many different varieties of hops are grown by farmers around the world, the first documented use of hops in beer is from the 9th century, though Hildegard of Bingen,300 years later, is often cited as the earliest documented source. Before this period, brewers used gruit, composed of a variety of bitter herbs and flowers, including dandelion, burdock root, marigold, horehound, ground ivy. Early documents include mention of a hop garden in the will of Charlemagnes father, historically, traditional herb combinations for beers were believed to have been abandoned when beers made with hops were noticed to be less prone to spoilage. The first documented hop cultivation was in 736, in the Hallertau region of present-day Germany, however, in a will of Pepin the Short, the father of Charlemagne,768 hop gardens were left to the Cloister of Saint-Denis. Not until the 13th century did hops begin to start threatening the use of gruit for flavoring, gruit was used when taxes were levied by the nobility on hops. Whichever was taxed made the then quickly switch to the other. In Britain, hopped beer was first imported from Holland around 1400, yet hops were condemned as late as 1519 as a wicked, in 1471, Norwich, England, banned use of the plant in the brewing of ale. In Germany, using hops was also a religious and political choice in the early 16th century, there was no tax on hops to be paid on the Catholic church, unlike on gruit, for which the Protestant preferred hopped beer. Therefore, in the hop industry there are words which originally were Dutch words. Hops were then grown as far north as Aberdeen, near breweries for infrastructure convenience, in England there were many complaints over the quality of imported hops, the sacks of which were often contaminated by stalks, sand or straw to increase their weight. Hop cultivation was begun in the present-day United States in 1629 by English, before national alcohol prohibition, cultivation was mainly centered around New York, California, Oregon, and Washington. Problems with powdery mildew and downy mildew devastated New Yorks production by the 1920s, Hops production is concentrated in moist temperate climates, with much of the worlds production occurring near the 48th parallel north. Historically, hops were not grown in Ireland, but were imported from England, in 1752 more than 500 tons of English hops were imported through Dublin alone. Important production centers today are the Hallertau in Germany, the Yakima and Willamette valleys, the principal production centers in the UK are in Kent which produces Kent Goldings hops, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Essentially all of the hops are used in beer making. Although hops are grown in most of the continental United States and Canada, as hops are a climbing plant, they are trained to grow up trellises made from strings or wires that support the plants and allow them significantly greater growth with the same sunlight profile
25.
Sesquiterpene
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Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and have the Molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be acyclic or contain rings, including many unique combinations, biochemical modifications such as oxidation or rearrangement produce the related sesquiterpenoids. Sesquiterpenes are found naturally in plants and insects, as semiochemicals, the reaction of geranyl pyrophosphate with isopentenyl pyrophosphate results in the 15-carbon farnesyl pyrophosphate which is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of sesquiterpenes such as farnesene. Oxidation of farnesene then provides sesquiterpenoids such as farnesol, there are more cyclic sesquiterpenes than cyclic monoterpenes because of the increased chain length and additional double bond. In addition to common six-membered ring systems such as is found in zingiberene, the cadinenes contain two fused six-membered rings. Caryophyllene, a component of essential oils such as clove oil. Vetivazulene and guaiazulene are aromatic bicyclic sesquiterpenoids, with the addition of a third ring, the possible structures become increasingly varied. Examples include longifolene, copaene and the alcohol patchoulol, two sesquiterpenes named dictyophorine A and B were identified from the fungus Phallus indusiatus. These compounds are based on the skeleton, and they are the first eudesmane derivatives isolated from fungi. The dictyophorines promote the synthesis of growth factor in astroglial cells. Sesquiterpenes at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings
26.
Humulene
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It was first found in the essential oils of Humulus lupulus, from which it derives its name. Humulene is an isomer of β-caryophyllene, and the two are found together as a mixture in many aromatic plants. Humulene is one of the components of the oil from the flowering cone of the hops plant, Humulus lupulus. The concentration of humulene varies among different varieties of the plant, humulene and its reaction products in the brewing process of beer gives many beers their “hoppy” aroma. Noble hop varieties have found to have higher levels of humulene. Multiple epoxides of humulene are produced in the brewing process, α-Humulene has been found in many aromatic plants on all continents, often together with its isomer β-caryophyllene. Proven α-humulene emitters into the atmosphere are pine trees, orange orchards, marsh elders, tobacco, α-Humulene is contained in the essential oils of aromatic plants such as Salvia officinalis, Lindera strychnifolia Uyaku or Japanese spicebush, ginseng species, up to 29. Humulene is one of many sesquiterpenoids that are derived from farnesyl diphosphate, the formation of humulene from FPP is catalyzed by sesquiterpene synthesis enzymes. This biosynthesis can be mimicked in the laboratory by preparing allylic stanane from farnesol, there are diverse ways to synthesize humulene in the laboratory, involving differing closures of the C-C bond in the macrocycle. Humulene can also by synthesized using a combination of four-component assembly and palladium-mediated cyclization and this synthesis is noteworthy for the simplicity of the C−C bond constructions and cyclization steps, which it is believed will prove advantageous in the synthesis of related polyterpenoids. In laboratory studies, humulene is being studied for potential anti-inflammatory effects, α-Humulene is a biogenic volatile organic compound, emitted by numerous plants with a relatively high potential for secondary organic aerosol formation in the atmosphere. It quickly reacts with ozone in sunlight to form oxygenated products, α-Humulene has a very high reaction rate coefficient compared to most monoterpenes. Since it contains three double bonds, first-, second- and third-generation products are possible that can each condense to form secondary organic aerosol. At typical tropospheric ozone mixing ratios of 30 ppb the lifetime of α-humulene is about 2 min, while the first- and second-generation products have average lifetimes of 1 h and 12.5 h, respectively
27.
Caryophyllene
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It is usually found as a mixture with isocaryophyllene and α-humulene, a ring-opened isomer. Caryophyllene is notable for having a ring, as well as a trans-double bond in an 8-membered ring. The first total synthesis of caryophyllene in 1964 by E. J, corey was considered one of the classic demonstrations of the possibilities of synthetic organic chemistry at the time. Caryophyllene is one of the compounds that contributes to the spiciness of black pepper. 14-Hydroxycaryophyllene oxide was isolated from the urine of rabbits treated with -caryophyllene, the x-ray crystal structure of 14-hydroxycaryophyllene has been reported. The metabolism of caryophyllen progresses through -caryophyllene oxide since the compound also afforded 14-hydroxycaryophyllene as a metabolite. Caryophyllene → caryophyllene oxide → 14-hydroxycaryophyllene → 14-hydroxycaryophyllene oxide, caryophyllene oxide, in which the olefin of caryophyllene has become an epoxide, is the component responsible for cannabis identification by drug-sniffing dogs and is also an approved food flavoring. Antinociceptive, neuroprotective, anxiolytic and antidepressant and anti-alcoholism activity in in vitro studies, whether this compound is able to modulate inflammatory processes in humans via the endocannabinoid system is yet unknown. However, it is found to elicit significant neuroprotection by its anti-inflammatory, caryophyllene does not bind to the centrally expressed cannabinoid receptor type-1 and therefore does not exert psychoactive effects. Scientific evidence have been presented for non-cannabinoid plant components as putative antidotes to intoxicating effects of THC, that could increase its therapeutic index
28.
Beer
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Beer is the worlds oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drink, it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. Most beer is flavoured with hops, which add bitterness and act as a natural preservative, the fermentation process causes a natural carbonation effect, although this is often removed during processing, and replaced with forced carbonation. Beer is sold in bottles and cans, it may also be available on draught, particularly in pubs, the brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries. The strength of beer is usually around 4% to 6% alcohol by volume, archaeologists speculate that beer was instrumental in the formation of civilisations. Approximately 5000 years ago, workers in the city of Uruk were paid by their employers in beer, the earliest known chemical evidence of barley beer dates to circa 3500–3100 BC from the site of Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. The Ebla tablets, discovered in 1974 in Ebla, Syria, a fermented beverage using rice and fruit was made in China around 7000 BC. Unlike sake, mould was not used to saccharify the rice, almost any substance containing sugar can naturally undergo alcoholic fermentation. It is likely that many cultures, on observing that a liquid could be obtained from a source of starch. Bread and beer increased prosperity to a level that allowed time for development of other technologies, Beer was spread through Europe by Germanic and Celtic tribes as far back as 3000 BC, and it was mainly brewed on a domestic scale. The product that the early Europeans drank might not be recognised as beer by most people today, alongside the basic starch source, the early European beers might contain fruits, honey, numerous types of plants, spices and other substances such as narcotic herbs. What they did not contain was hops, as that was an addition, first mentioned in Europe around 822 by a Carolingian Abbot. Beer produced before the Industrial Revolution continued to be made and sold on a scale, although by the 7th century AD, beer was also being produced. During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from artisanal manufacture to industrial manufacture, the development of hydrometers and thermometers changed brewing by allowing the brewer more control of the process and greater knowledge of the results. Today, the industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies. As of 2006, more than 133 billion litres, the equivalent of a cube 510 metres on a side, of beer are sold per year, the process of making beer is known as brewing. A dedicated building for the making of beer is called a brewery, a company that makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company. Beer made on a scale for non-commercial reasons is classified as homebrewing regardless of where it is made. Brewing beer is subject to legislation and taxation in developed countries, however, the UK government relaxed legislation in 1963, followed by Australia in 1972 and the US in 1978, allowing homebrewing to become a popular hobby
29.
Cannabis sativa
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Cannabis sativa is an annual herbaceous plant in the Cannabis genus, a species of the Cannabaceae family. People have cultivated Cannabis sativa throughout recorded history as a source of fibre, seed oil, food, recreation, religious and spiritual moods. Each part of the plant is harvested differently, depending on the purpose of its use, the species was first classified by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. Its seeds are used to make hempseed oil which can be used for cooking, lamps. They can also be used as feed, as they provide a moderate source of nutrients for most birds. The flowers contain psychoactive chemical compounds known as cannabinoids that are consumed for recreational, medicinal and spiritual purposes, when so used, preparations of flowers and leaves and preparations derived from resinous extract are consumed by smoking, vaporising and oral ingestion. Historically, tinctures, teas and ointments have also been common preparations, in traditional medicine of India in particular C. sativa has been used as hallucinogenic, hypnotic, sedative, analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent. The flowers of the plant are arranged in racemes and can produce hundreds of seeds. Male plants shed their pollen and die several weeks prior to seed ripening on the female plants, although genetic factors dispose a plant to become male or female, environmental factors including the diurnal light cycle can alter sexual expression. Naturally occurring monoecious plants, with male and female parts, are either sterile or fertile but artificially induced hermaphrodites can have fully functional reproductive organs. Feminized seed sold by commercial seed suppliers are derived from artificially hermaphrodytic females that lack the male gene. In the case of production related to use of Cannabis. A Cannabis plant in the growth phase of its life requires more than 12–13 hours of light per day to stay vegetative. Flowering usually occurs when darkness equals at least 12 hours per day, the flowering cycle can last anywhere between nine and fifteen weeks, depending on the strain and environmental conditions. In soil, the optimum pH for the plant is 6.3 to 6.8. In hydroponic growing, the nutrient solution is best at 5.2 to 5.8, making Cannabis well-suited to hydroponics because this pH range is hostile to most bacteria and fungi. Broadly, there are three main groups of cannabis that are cultivated today, Cultivars primarily cultivated for their fibre, characterised by long stems. Cultivars grown for seed which can be eaten raw or from which hemp oil is extracted
30.
Isoprene
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Isoprene, or 2-methyl-1, 3-butadiene, is a common organic compound with the formula CH2=C−CH=CH2. In its pure form it is a volatile liquid. Isoprene is produced by plants, and its polymers are the main component of natural rubber. C. G. Williams named the compound in 1860 after obtaining it from thermal decomposition of natural rubber, isoprene is produced and emitted by many species of trees. Yearly production of emissions by vegetation is around 600 million metric tons, half from tropical broadleaf trees. This is about equivalent to methane emissions and accounts for ~1/3 of all released into the atmosphere. Isoprene is made through the methyl-erythritol 4-phosphate pathway in the chloroplasts of plants, one of the two end products of MEP pathway, dimethylallyl pyrophosphate, is catalyzed by the enzyme isoprene synthase to form isoprene. Therefore, inhibitors that block the MEP pathway, such as fosmidomycin, isoprene emission increases dramatically with temperature and maximizes at around 40 °C. This has led to the hypothesis that isoprene may protect plants against heat stress, emission of isoprene is also observed in some bacteria and this is thought to come from non-enzymatic degradations from DMAPP. Isoprene emission in plants is controlled both by the availability of substrate and by enzyme activity, isoprene is the most abundant hydrocarbon measurable in the breath of humans. The estimated production rate of isoprene in the body is 0.15 µmol/. Isoprene is common in low concentrations in many foods, isoprene emission appears to be a mechanism that trees use to combat abiotic stresses. In particular, isoprene has been shown to protect against moderate heat stress and it may also protect plants against large fluctuations in leaf temperature. Isoprene is incorporated into and helps stabilize cell membranes in response to heat stress, isoprene also confers resistance to reactive oxygen species. The amount of isoprene released from isoprene-emitting vegetation depends on mass, leaf area, light. This is thought to add resistance to harsh environments in which many Archaea are found. The isoprene skeleton can be found in naturally occurring compounds called terpenes, terpenes can be viewed as multiples of isoprene subunits, and this perspective is the cornerstone of the isoprene rule. The precursor to isoprene units in biological systems is dimethylallyl pyrophosphate, the plural “isoprenes” is sometimes used to refer to terpenes in general
31.
Hemiterpene
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They often have a strong odor and may protect the plants that produce them by deterring herbivores and by attracting predators and parasites of herbivores. The difference between terpenes and terpenoids is that terpenes are hydrocarbons, whereas terpenoids contain additional functional groups and they are the major components of resin, and of turpentine produced from resin. The name terpene is derived from the word turpentine, in addition to their roles as end-products in many organisms, terpenes are major biosynthetic building blocks within nearly every living creature. Steroids, for example, are derivatives of the triterpene squalene, when terpenes are modified chemically, such as by oxidation or rearrangement of the carbon skeleton, the resulting compounds are generally referred to as terpenoids. Some authors will use the term terpene to include all terpenoids, terpenoids are also known as isoprenoids. Terpenes and terpenoids are the constituents of the essential oils of many types of plants. Essential oils are used widely as fragrances in perfumery, and in medicine, synthetic variations and derivatives of natural terpenes and terpenoids also greatly expand the variety of aromas used in perfumery and flavors used in food additives. Terpenes are released by trees more actively in warmer weather, acting as a form of cloud seeding. The clouds reflect sunlight, allowing the forest to regulate its temperature, the aroma and flavor of hops comes from the terpenes, alpha-humulene, beta-caryophyllene, and sesquiterpenes, which affect beer quality. Terpenes are also major constituents of Cannabis sativa plants, which contain at least 120 identified compounds, Terpenes are derived biosynthetically from units of isoprene, which has the molecular formula C5H8. The basic molecular formulae of terpenes are multiples of that, n n is the number of linked isoprene units. This is called the rule or the C5 rule. The isoprene units may be linked together head to tail to form chains or they may be arranged to form rings. One can consider the unit as one of natures common building blocks. Isoprene itself does not undergo the process, but rather activated forms, isopentenyl pyrophosphate. IPP is formed from acetyl-CoA via the intermediacy of mevalonic acid in the HMG-CoA reductase pathway, an alternative, totally unrelated biosynthesis pathway of IPP is known in some bacterial groups and the plastids of plants, the so-called MEP-pathway, which is initiated from C5-sugars. In both pathways, IPP is isomerized to DMAPP by the enzyme isopentenyl pyrophosphate isomerase, essentially, they are all synthesised by terpene synthase. Terpenes may be classified by the number of units in the molecule
32.
Monoterpene
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Monoterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of two isoprene units and have the molecular formula C10H16. Monoterpenes may be linear or contain rings, biochemical modifications such as oxidation or rearrangement produce the related monoterpenoids. Biosynthetically, isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate are combined to form geranyl pyrophosphate, elimination of the pyrophosphate group leads to the formation of acyclic monoterpenes such as ocimene and the myrcenes. Hydrolysis of the groups leads to the prototypical acyclic monoterpenoid geraniol. Additional rearrangements and oxidations provide compounds such as citral, citronellal, citronellol, linalool, many monoterpenes found in marine organisms are halogenated, such as halomon. In addition to attachments, the isoprene units can make connections to form rings. The most common ring size in monoterpenes is a six-membered ring, a classic example is the cyclization of geranyl pyrophosphate to form limonene. The terpinenes, phellandrenes, and terpinolene are formed similarly, hydroxylation of any of these compounds followed by dehydration can lead to the aromatic p-cymene. Important terpenoids derived from monocyclic terpenes are menthol, thymol, carvacrol, geranyl pyrophosphate can also undergo two sequential cyclization reactions to form bicyclic monoterpenes, such as pinene which is the primary constituent of pine resin. Other bicyclic monoterpenes include carene, sabinene, camphene, and thujene, camphor, borneol and eucalyptol are examples of bicyclic monoterpenoids containing ketone, alcohol, and ether functional groups, respectively. Monoterpenes are emitted by forests and form aerosols that can serve as condensation nuclei. Such aerosols can increase the brightness of clouds and cool the climate, several monoterpenes derivatives have antibacterial activity, such as linalool
33.
Diterpene
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Diterpenes are a class of chemical compounds composed of two terpene units with the molecular formula C20H32, they may also be thought of as consisting of four isoprene units. They are biosynthesized by plants, animals and fungi via the HMG-CoA reductase pathway, diterpenes form the basis for biologically important compounds such as retinol, retinal, and phytol. They are known to be antimicrobial and antiinflammatory, as with most terpenes a huge number of potential structures exists, which may be broadly divided according to the number of rings present. Diterpenes are formally defined as being hydrocarbons and thus contain no heteroatoms, functionalized structures should instead be called diterpenoids, although in scientific literature the two terms are often used interchangeably. Taxanes are class of diterpenoids featuring a taxadiene core and they are produced by plants of the genus Taxus and are widely used as chemotherapy agents. Monoterpene sesquiterpene triterpene Dodonaea petiolaris yields the diterpene ent-3β-acetoxy-15, 16-epoxylabda-8,13, salvia divinorum yields Salvinorin A, a psychotropic drug
34.
Sesterterpene
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They often have a strong odor and may protect the plants that produce them by deterring herbivores and by attracting predators and parasites of herbivores. The difference between terpenes and terpenoids is that terpenes are hydrocarbons, whereas terpenoids contain additional functional groups and they are the major components of resin, and of turpentine produced from resin. The name terpene is derived from the word turpentine, in addition to their roles as end-products in many organisms, terpenes are major biosynthetic building blocks within nearly every living creature. Steroids, for example, are derivatives of the triterpene squalene, when terpenes are modified chemically, such as by oxidation or rearrangement of the carbon skeleton, the resulting compounds are generally referred to as terpenoids. Some authors will use the term terpene to include all terpenoids, terpenoids are also known as isoprenoids. Terpenes and terpenoids are the constituents of the essential oils of many types of plants. Essential oils are used widely as fragrances in perfumery, and in medicine, synthetic variations and derivatives of natural terpenes and terpenoids also greatly expand the variety of aromas used in perfumery and flavors used in food additives. Terpenes are released by trees more actively in warmer weather, acting as a form of cloud seeding. The clouds reflect sunlight, allowing the forest to regulate its temperature, the aroma and flavor of hops comes from the terpenes, alpha-humulene, beta-caryophyllene, and sesquiterpenes, which affect beer quality. Terpenes are also major constituents of Cannabis sativa plants, which contain at least 120 identified compounds, Terpenes are derived biosynthetically from units of isoprene, which has the molecular formula C5H8. The basic molecular formulae of terpenes are multiples of that, n n is the number of linked isoprene units. This is called the rule or the C5 rule. The isoprene units may be linked together head to tail to form chains or they may be arranged to form rings. One can consider the unit as one of natures common building blocks. Isoprene itself does not undergo the process, but rather activated forms, isopentenyl pyrophosphate. IPP is formed from acetyl-CoA via the intermediacy of mevalonic acid in the HMG-CoA reductase pathway, an alternative, totally unrelated biosynthesis pathway of IPP is known in some bacterial groups and the plastids of plants, the so-called MEP-pathway, which is initiated from C5-sugars. In both pathways, IPP is isomerized to DMAPP by the enzyme isopentenyl pyrophosphate isomerase, essentially, they are all synthesised by terpene synthase. Terpenes may be classified by the number of units in the molecule
35.
Triterpene
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Triterpenes are a class of chemical compounds composed of three terpene units with the molecular formula C30H48, they may also be thought of as consisting of six isoprene units. Animals, plants and fungi all create triterpenes, with arguably the most important example being squalene as it forms the basis of almost all steroids, triterpenes exist in a huge variety of structures with nearly 200 different skeletons known from natural sources or enzymatic reactions. These may be divided according to the number of rings present. Triterpenoids possess a rich chemistry and pharmacology with several pentacyclic motiefs, steroids feature a cucurbitane core, although in practice they are biosynthesised from either lanosterol or cycloartenol via the cyclization of squalene. Steroids have two biological functions, being either key components of cell membranes or signaling molecules that activate steroid hormone receptors. Important sub-classes include sterols and cucurbitacins, triterpenoid saponins are triterpenes which belong to the saponin group of compounds, making them triterpenoid glycosides. They are produced by plants as part of their self-defense mechanism with important sub-classes including ginsenosides, eleutherosides
36.
Terpene synthase N terminal domain
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In molecular biology, this protein domain belongs to the terpene synthase family. Its role is to synthesize terpenes which are part of metabolism, such as sterols and carotene. This entry will focus on the N terminal domain of the TPS protein, terpenes synthases have a role in producing important molecules in metabolism, these molecules are part of a large group called terpenoids. In particular, the N terminal domain has feature of the copalyl diphosphate synthase active site, the N-terminal domain forms an alpha-barrel similar to that of the sesquiterpene cyclase epiaristolochene synthase. Sequences containing this domain belong to the terpene synthase family. It has been suggested that this gene family be designated tps, sequence comparisons reveal similarities between the monoterpene synthases, sesquiterpene synthases and the diterpene synthases. It has been split into six subgroups on the basis of phylogeny, tpsd includes taxadiene synthase, pinene synthase, and myrcene synthase. In the fungus Phaeosphaeria sp. the synthesis of ent-kaurene from geranylgeranyl dophosphate is promoted by a bifunctional protein. This article incorporates text from the public domain Pfam and InterPro IPR001906
37.
Mevalonic acid
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Mevalonic acid is a key organic compound in biochemistry. The name is a contraction of dihydroxymethylvalerolactone, the carboxylate anion of mevalonic acid, which is the predominant form in biological environments is known as mevalonate, and is of major pharmaceutical importance. Drugs such as the stop the production of mevalonate by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase. Mevalonic acid is soluble in water and polar organic solvents. It exists in equilibrium with its form, called mevalonolactone. Mevalonic acid is a precursor in the biosynthetic pathway known as the pathway that produces terpenes. Mevalonic acid is the precursor of isopentenyl pyrophosphate, that is in turn the basis for all terpenoids. Mevalonic acid is chiral and the -enantiomer is the one that is biologically active
38.
Mevalonate pathway
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The mevalonate pathway, also known as the isoprenoid pathway or HMG-CoA reductase pathway is an essential metabolic pathway present in eukaryotes, archaea, and some bacteria. The mevalonate pathway begins with acetyl-CoA and ends with the production of IPP and DMAPP and it is best known as the target of statins, a class of cholesterol lowering drugs. Statins inhibit HMG-CoA reductase within the mevalonate pathway, the mevalonate pathway of eukaryotes, archaea, and eubacteria all begin the same way. The sole carbon feed stock of the pathway is acetyl-CoA, the first step condenses two acetyl-CoA molecules to yield acetoacetyl-CoA. This is followed by a condensation to form HMG-CoA. These first 3 enzymatic steps are called the upper mevalonate pathway, the lower mevalonate pathway which converts -mevalonate into IPP and DMAPP has 3 variants. In eukaryotes, mevalonate is phosphorylated twice in the 5-OH position, in some archaea such as Haloferax volcanii, mevalonate is phosphorylated once in the 5-OH position, decarboxylated to yield isopentenyl phosphate, and finally phosphorylated again to yield IPP. A third mevalonate pathway variant found in Thermoplasma acidophilum, phosphorylates mevalonate at the 3-OH position followed by phosphorylation at the 5-OH position, the resulting metabolite, mevalonate-3, 5-bisphosphate, is decarboxylated to IP, and finally phosphorylated to yield IPP. Several key enzymes can be activated through DNA transcriptional regulation on activation of SREBP, regulation of this pathway is also achieved by controlling the rate of translation of the mRNA, degradation of reductase and phosphorylation. The output of both the pathway and the MEP pathway are the same, IPP and DMAPP, however the enzymatic reactions to convert acetyl-CoA into IPP are entirely different. In higher plants, the MEP pathway operates in plastids while the mevalonate pathway operates in the cytosol, examples of bacteria that contain the MEP pathway include Escherichia coli and pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute page on cholesterol synthesis
39.
Pentose
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A pentose is a monosaccharide with five carbon atoms. Pentoses are organized into two groups, aldopentoses have an aldehyde functional group at position 1. Ketopentoses have a functional group in position 2 or 3. The aldopentoses have three chiral centers and therefore eight different stereoisomers are possible, the 2-ketopentoses have two chiral centers, and therefore four different stereoisomers are possible. The aldehyde and ketone functional groups in these carbohydrates react with neighbouring hydroxyl groups to form intramolecular hemiacetals and hemiketals. The resulting ring structure is related to furan, and is termed a furanose, the ring spontaneously opens and closes, allowing rotation to occur about the bond between the carbonyl group and the neighbouring carbon atom — yielding two distinct configurations. Ribose is a constituent of RNA, and the related deoxyribose of DNA, a polymer composed of pentose sugars is called a pentosan. The Tollens’ test for pentoses relies on reaction of the furfural with phloroglucinol to produce a compound with high molar absorptivity. Aniline acetate test, for distinguishing pentoses from other carbohydrates Pentose phosphate pathway Bials test Ribose
40.
Instar
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An instar is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult, until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or assume a new form, differences between instars can often be seen in altered body proportions, colors, patterns, changes in the number of body segments or head width. After moulting, i. e. shedding their exoskeleton, the juvenile arthropods continue in their life cycle until they pupate or moult again. This period of growth, instar, is fixed, some arthropods can continue to moult after sexual maturity, but the stages between these subsequent moults are generally not called instars. The number of instars an insect undergoes depends on the species, lower temperatures and humidity often slow the rate of development. The dictionary definition of instar at Wiktionary
41.
Papilio glaucus
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Papilio glaucus, the eastern tiger swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly native to eastern North America. It is one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States and it flies from spring to fall, during which it produces two to three broods. Adults feed on the nectar of species of flowers, mostly from those of the Apocynaceae, Asteraceae. P. glaucus has a wingspan measuring 7.9 to 14 cm, the male is yellow with four black tiger stripes on each forewing. Females may be yellow or black, making them dimorphic. The yellow morph is similar to the male, but with a band of blue spots along the hindwing. The green eggs are laid singly on plants of the Magnoliaceae and Rosaceae families, young caterpillars are brown and white, older ones are green with two black, yellow, and blue eyespots on the thorax. The caterpillar will turn brown prior to pupating and it will reach a length of 5.5 centimetres. The chrysalis varies from a color to dark brown. Hibernation occurs in this stage in locations with cold winter months, the wingspan ranges from 7.9 to 14 cm with females being the larger sex. Southern individuals are larger than northern ones, males are yellow with four black tiger stripes on each forewing. The outer edge of the forewing is black with a row of yellow spots, the veins are marked with black. The postmedian area of the hindwing is black with yellow spots along the margin, the inner margin of the hindwing has small red and blue spots. The ventral forewing margin has a bar that is broken into spots. This broken bar is present in both sexes, and is used to distinguish P. glaucus from its close relatives, the yellow morph differs from the male in having a blue postmedian area on the dorsal hindwing. In the dark morph, the areas that are normally yellow are replaced with gray or black. The bluish postmedian area on the hindwing has one row of orange spots. A shadow of the stripes can be seen on the underside of some dark females
42.
Prenol
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Prenol, or 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol, is a natural alcohol. It is one of the most simple terpenoids and it is a clear colorless oil that is reasonably soluble in water and miscible with most common organic solvents. It has a fruity odor and is used occasionally in perfumery, prenol occurs naturally in citrus fruits, cranberry, bilberry, currants, grapes, raspberry, blackberry, tomato, white bread, hop oil, coffee, arctic bramble, cloudberry and passion fruit. It is also manufactured industrially by BASF and by Kuraray as an intermediate to pharmaceuticals, global production in 2001 was between 6000 and 13,000 tons. Prenol is produced industrially by the reaction of formaldehyde with isobutene and they should not be confused with isoprenol, which is an isomer of prenol with a terminal double bond. The simplest isoprenoid alcohol is geraniol, higher oligomers include farnesol and geranylgeraniol, when the isoprene unit attached to the alcohol is saturated, the compound is referred to as a dolichol. Dolichols are important as glycosyl carriers in the synthesis of polysaccharides and they also play a major role in protecting cellular membranes, stabilising cell proteins and supporting the bodys immune system. Prenol is polymerized by dehydration reactions, when there are at least five isoprene units, Polyprenols can contain up to 100 isoprene units linked end to end with the hydroxyl group remaining at the end. These log-chain isoprenoid alcohols are also called ‘terpenols’ and they are important in the acylation of proteins, carotenoids, and fat-soluble vitamins A, E and K. Polyprenols also play a vital role in cell metabolism. The pharmacological activity of polyprenols is based on their effect in the case of dolichol deficits which are observed with chronic inflammatory, degenerative. Live conifer needles are one of the richest and most widely available sources for polyprenol extraction in the world, commercial extraction of polyprenols involves a soft extraction procedure that enables them to be extracted without destroying their biological activity. SIDS Initial Assessment Report for 3-Methyl-2-buten-1-ol from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
43.
Isovaleric acid
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3-Methylbutanoic acid, also known as β-methylbutyric acid or more commonly isovaleric acid, is an organic compound with the formula 2CHCH2CO2H. It is sometimes classified as a fatty acid and it is a colourless liquid that is sparingly soluble in water, but highly soluble in most common organic solvents. The compound occurs naturally, including in essential oils, isovaleric acid has a strong pungent cheesy or sweaty smell, but its volatile esters have pleasing scents and are used widely in perfumery. It has been proposed that it is the anticonvulsant agent in valerian and it is a major component of the cause of unpleasant foot odor, as it is produced by skin bacteria metabolizing leucine. Isovaleric acid is seen as the cause of the flavors added to wine caused by Brettanomyces yeasts. Other compounds produced by Brettanomyces yeasts include 4-ethylphenol, 4-vinylphenol, and 4-ethylguaiacol. An excess of acid in wine is generally seen as a defect, as it can smell sweaty, leathery, or like a barnyard. Isovaleric acid can also be found in beer, and, excepting some English–style ales, is considered a flaw. It can be produced by the oxidation of hop resins, or by Brettanomyces yeasts present, isovaleric acid has been used to synthesize β-hydroxyisovaleric acid – otherwise known as β-hydroxy β-methylbutyric acid – via microbial oxidation by the fungus Galactomyces reessii. Isovaleric acidemia Valeric acid, an isomer
. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
