Chemical Ecology

The Chemistry of Biotic Interaction

Author: Meinwald, Jerrold; Eisner, Thomas
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 9780309052818
eISBN Pdf: 9780309588096
eISBN Epub: 9780309176187
Place of publication: United States
Year of digital publication: 1995
Month: September
Pages: 232
DDC: 540
Language: English

Caption

Chemical signals among organisms form "a vast communicative interplay, fundamental to the fabric of life," in the words of one expert. Chemical ecology is the the discipline that seeks to understand these interactions-to use biology in the search for new substances of potential benefit to humankind.

This book highlights selected research areas of medicinal and agricultural importance. Leading experts review the chemistry of:

Insect defense and its applications to pest control.
Phyletic dominance—the survival success of insects.
Social regulation, with ant societies as a model of multicomponent signaling systems.
Eavesdropping, alarm, and deceit—the array of strategies used by insects to find and lure prey.
Reproduction—from the gamete attraction to courtship nd sexual selection.
The chemistry of intracellular immunosuppression.

Topics also include the appropriation of dietary factors for defense and communication; the use of chemical signals in the marine environment; the role of the olfactory system in chemical analysis; and the interaction of polydnaviruses, endoparasites, and the immune system of the host.

Chemical Ecology
Copyright
Contents
Preface
The Chemistry of Defense: Theory and Practice
- DISTRIBUTION OF DEFENSES
- PATTERNS OF ALLOCATION
- SPECIAL CASE: HUMAN CHEMICAL DEFENSES
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
The Chemistry of Poisons in Amphibian Skin
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
The Chemistry of Phyletic Dominance
- ARTHROPOD CHEMICAL DEFENSES
- SPIDER VENOMS
- CHEMICAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO ARTHROPOD DOMINANCE
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
The Chemistry of Social Regulation: Multicomponent Signals in Ant Societies
- PHEROMONE BLENDS
- MODULATION AND RITUALIZATION OF MULTICOMPONENT SIGNALS
- NESTMATE RECOGNITION AND EXCLUSION OF FOREIGNERS
- CONCLUSION
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
The Chemistry of Eavesdropping, Alarm, and Deceit
- EAVESDROPPING
- ALARM
- DECEIT
- FUTURE DIRECTIONS
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
Polydnavirus-Facilitated Endoparasite Protection Against Host Immune Defenses
- IMMUNOSUPPRESSION AND DEVELOPMENTAL ARREST
- DIVERSE STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESSFUL PARASITIZATION
- POLYDNAVIRUSES: GENERAL FEATURES
- POLYDNAVIRUS EXPRESSION IN THE HOST
- VIRAL MULTIGENE FAMILIES
- CYSTEINE-RICH GENE FAMILY
- GENE STRUCTURE OF WHV1.0, WHV1.6, AND VHV1.1
- OPEN READING FRAMES OF THE CYSTEINE-RICH GENES
- VENOM-RELATED GENE FAMILY
- REPEAT GENE FAMILY
- PARASITE-VIRUS-HOST
- SEGMENTED VIRUS GENOMES: EVOLUTION AND FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE
- GENE FAMILIES: EVOLUTION AND SIGNIFICANCE
- CONCLUSIONS
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
The Chemistry of Gamete Attraction: Chemical Structures, Biosynthesis, and (A)biotic Degradation of ...
- BROWN ALGAE AND THEIR PHEROMONES
- BIOSYNTHESIS OF C11 HYDROCARBONS IN HIGHER AND LOWER PLANTS (PHAEOPHYCEAE)
- (A)BIOTIC DEGRADATION OF ALGAL PHEROMONES
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
The Chemistry of Sex Attraction
- OVERT CHEMICAL SIGNALS
  - Rapid Identification of Pheromone Components with the Electroantennogram
  - Complex Structures vs. Specific Blends
- SEX PHEROMONE PRODUCTION
  - Key Biosynthetic Enzymes
  - Hormonal Control
- PHEROMONE PERCEPTION
  - Peripheral Detection
  - Plume Structure
  - Behavioral Thresholds
  - Brain Black Box
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
The Chemistry of Sexual Selection
- DEFENSE
- COURTSHIP
- SEXUAL SELECTION
- PARENTAL INVESTMENT
- SPERM SELECTION
- ADDITIONAL FINDINGS
- THE BROADER PERSPECTIVE
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
The Chemistry of Signal Transduction
- SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION IN T CELLS AND THE ROLE OF NATURAL PRODUCTS
- IMMUNOPHILINS AND THEIR COMPLEXES
- STRUCTURAL STUDIES ON IMMUNOPHILIN-IMMUNOSUPPRESSANT COMPLEXES
- FK506 AND PEPTIDOMIMICRY
- BROADER PERSPECTIVE
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
Chemical Signals in the Marine Environment: Dispersal, Detection, and Temporal Signal Analysis
- SIGNAL RECEPTION AND ANALYSIS: TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF CHEMICAL SIGNALS TO DETERMINE SPATIAL GRADIENTS
  - Spatial Gradients in Turbulent Odor Plumes
  - Orientation and Navigation in Odor Plumes
  - Odor Sampling Behavior
  - Temporal Resolution of Olfactory Receptor Cells
  - Discussion
- SIGNAL PRODUCTION AND BROADCASTING: URINE DISPERSAL IN CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION
  - Information Currents and Urine Signals
  - Urine Signals in Dominance and Courtship
  - Discussion
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
Analysis of Chemical Signals by Nervous Systems
- ORIGINS OF OLFACTORY SYSTEMS
  - Origins of Chemoreception
  - Whence Olfaction?
- FROM STIMULANT MOLECULE TO MOLECULAR IMAGES IN THE OLFACTORY SYSTEM
  - Common Features of Organization of Olfactory Systems
  - The Primitives of Olfaction
  - Molecular Images in Olfactory Pathways
- A CASE IN POINT: NEURAL PROCESSING OF SEX-PHEROMONAL INFORMATION IN MOTHS
  - The Sex-Pheromonal Stimulus
  - Detection of the Sex Pheromone
  - Olfactory Transduction in Pheromone-Specific Receptor Cells
  - Functional Organization of Central Olfactory Pathways
  - Stimulus Quality
  - Stimulus Quantity
  - Stimulus Intermittency
  - Synaptic Mechanisms in the AL
  - Synaptic Interactions Between AL Neurons
  - Higher Order Processing of Pheromonal Information in the CNS
- CONCLUSION
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
Chemical Ecology: A View from the Pharmaceutical Industry
- SELECTION OF DRUG DISCOVERY TARGETS
- SELECTING SOURCES TO BE SCREENED FOR DRUGS AND LEADS
- INTEGRATING INFORMATION FROM MANY ORGANISMS TO GAIN INSIGHT FOR DRUG DESIGN
- EFFICIENT ROUTES TO THE DISCOVERY OF USEFUL COMPOUNDS
- LEARNING TO ASK BETTER QUESTIONS
- SUMMARY
- REFERENCES
Abbreviations
Index