Alkaloids of Importance in Plant-Insect Interactions

在植物-昆虫相互作用中重要的生物碱

• 批准号: 9619213
• 负责人: Frank Stermitz
• 金额: $ 28.2万
• 依托单位: Colorado State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1997
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1997-05-01 至 2001-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9619213&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Alkaloids; Importance; Plant; Insect; Interactions

Professor Frank R. Stermitz, of the Department of Chemistry of Colorado State University, is supported by the Organic Synthesis Program for his studies of alkaloids of importance in plant-insect interactions. His studies focus on the isolation, structure, biosynthesis, and insect processing of alkaloids in conifers (pine, spruce, and fir trees). The structures of an array of 2,6-disubstituted piperidine alkaloids is found in the conifers are being elucidated by a combination of isolation, mass spectral analysis, and spectroscopic methods, as well as by synthesis and/or semisynthesis. Plant feeding experiments with carbon-13 labeled compounds appearing to be plausible biosynthetic precursors will elucidate details of the synthesis of these alkaloids. The ability of spruce species to generate trans-disubstituted piperidines, whereas pine species generate only cis-disubstituted compounds, will also be explored. Analysis of conifer-feeding beetle, butterfly, and moth larvae and their excretion products will determine how insects process the piperidine alkaloids. Finally, extracts of plants displaying activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis will be analyzed in order to identify potential anti-tuberculosis agents. With support from the Organic Synthesis Program, Professor Frank R. Stermitz, of the Department of Chemistry of Colorado State University, studies the occurrence in conifers (pine, spruce, and fir trees) of compounds displaying biological activity. The particular `alkaloids` (naturally occurring nitrogen-containing compounds) found in these trees are found in similar or identical forms in an astounding variety of other natural sources, including the Mexican bean beetle, which synthesizes the alkaloids itself, and poisonous frogs, which obtain the alkaloids from unknown food sources. Study of both the plant sources of the alkaloids and the insects which feed upon them is expected to shed light on a number of important issues, including the way in which insects circumvent the defensive strategies of plants and possibly use ingested compounds to deter their own predators. In the course of related studies, plant extracts were isolated which display activity against the bacillus which causes tuberculosis. These extracts will be analyzed in order to identify new classes of compounds with potential therapeutic applications against strains of tuberculosis resistant to current drug therapies.

科罗拉多州立大学化学系的Frank R.Stermitz教授因其对植物-昆虫相互作用中重要的生物碱的研究而得到有机合成计划的支持。他的研究重点是针叶树(松树、云杉和冷杉树)中生物碱的分离、结构、生物合成和昆虫加工。在针叶树中发现的一系列2，6-二取代哌啶生物碱的结构正在通过分离、质谱分析和光谱方法以及通过合成和/或半合成来确定。用似乎是看似合理的生物合成前体的碳-13标记化合物进行的植物饲养实验将阐明这些生物碱的合成细节。云杉产生反式二取代哌啶的能力，而松树只产生顺式二取代化合物的能力也将被探索。对以针叶树为食的甲虫、蝴蝶和飞蛾幼虫及其排泄物的分析将确定昆虫如何处理哌啶生物碱。最后，将分析具有抗结核分枝杆菌活性的植物提取物，以确定潜在的抗结核药物。在有机合成项目的支持下，科罗拉多州立大学化学系的Frank R.Stermitz教授研究了针叶树(松树、云杉和冷杉树)中出现的具有生物活性的化合物。在这些树中发现的特殊的生物碱(天然含氮化合物)在其他各种自然来源中以相似或相同的形式被发现，包括本身合成生物碱的墨西哥豆甲，以及从未知食物来源获得生物碱的有毒青蛙。对生物碱的植物来源和以生物碱为食的昆虫的研究有望揭示一些重要问题，包括昆虫如何绕过植物的防御策略，并可能使用摄入的化合物来威慑自己的捕食者。在相关研究过程中，分离出对引起结核病的芽孢杆菌具有抗菌活性的植物提取物。将对这些提取物进行分析，以确定具有潜在治疗应用的新类别化合物，以对抗目前药物疗法耐药的结核病菌株。