Herbivores Their Interactions With Secondary Plant Metabolites

This volume presents the latest research on herbivores, aquatic and terrestrial mammals and insects. The Second Edition, written almost entirely by new authors, effectively complements the initial work. It includes advances in molecular biology and microbiology, ecology, and evolutionary theory that have been achieved since the first edition was published in 1979. The book also incorporates relatively new methodologies in the area of molecular biology, like protein purification and gene cloning. Volume II, Ecological and Evolutionary Processes, also opens up entirely new subjects: The discussions of interactions have expanded to include phenomena at higher trophic levels, such as predation and microbial processing and other environmental influences. Both this and Volume I, The Chemical Participants, will be of interest to chemists, biochemists, plant and insect ecologists, evolutionary biologists, physiologists, entomologists, and agroecologists interested in both crop and animal science. Presents coevolution of herbivores and host plants Examines resource availability and its effects on secondary metabolism and herbivores Studies physiology and biochemistry of adaptation to hosts Includes tri-trophic interactions involving predators and microbes

Part I. Ecological and evolutionary processes: Evolution of plant chemical defense against herbivores; The distribution of secondary compounds within plants; Mechanism of plant avoidance of autotoxicity by secondary metabolites, especially by nonprotein amino acids; How animal perceive secondary compounds; Biochemical defense mechanisms in herbivores against plant allelochemicals; Plant resources for chemical defense; Interaction of allelochemicals with nutrients in herbivore food; New horizons in the biology of plant defenses. Part II. The chemical participants: Naturally occurring, toxic nonprotein amino acids; Cyanide and cyanogenic glycosides; The evolutionary ecology of alkaloids; Toxic seed lipids; Chemistry and biological effect of glucosinolates; Sesquiterpene lactones and other terpenoids; Saponins; Phytohemagglutinins; Proteinase inhibitors; Flavonoid pigments; Tannins and lignins; Insect hormone and antihormones in plants.

V. 1. The chemical participants -- v. 2. Ecological and evolutionary processes.

Provides a state-of-the-art review of recent conceptual developments concerning the roles of plant secondary metabolites in the natural environment.

It has been more than ten years since the first edition of this book was published. During this time, our understanding of the interactions between plants and the animals that consume them, as mediated by secondary compounds (allelochemicals) of plants, has grown dramatically.In the Herbivores: Their Interactions with Secondary Plant Metabolites, Second Edition, only those areas of research where significant progress has been made since 1979 are included, and most of the contributing authors are new. This edition has been split into two volumes due to the vast amount of new material that has been generated on this subject.Both volumes will be of interest to evolutionary biologists, agriculturists, chemists, biochemists, physiologists, and ecologists.Volume 1, provides an exhaustive update and review of the chemical and biochemical bases for the role and function of allelochemicals in their defense against herbivores.Volume 2, scheduled for publication in April 1992, provides a current update of the research on the ecological roles and evolutionary nature of secondary plant metabolites in their interactions among plants and as protective agents against environmental stresses such as consumption by herbivores.

It has been more than ten years since the first edition of this book was published. During this time, our understanding of the interactions between plants and the animals that consume them, as mediated by secondary compounds (allelochemicals) of plants, has grown dramatically. In the Herbivores: Their Interactions with Secondary Plant Metabolites, Second Edition, only those areas of research where significant progress has been made since 1979 are included, and most of the contributing authors are new. This edition has been split into two volumes due to the vast amount of new material that has been generated on this subject. Both volumes will be of interest to evolutionary biologists, agriculturists, chemists, biochemists, physiologists, and ecologists. Volume 1, provides an exhaustive update and review of the chemical and biochemical bases for the role and function of allelochemicals in their defense against herbivores. Volume 2, scheduled for publication in April 1992, provides a current update of the research on the ecological roles and evolutionary nature of secondary plant metabolites in their interactions among plants and as protective agents against environmental stresses such as consumption by herbivores.