Naturally Occurring Organohalogen Compounds A Comprehensive Update

Despite the long association of organohalogen compounds with human activities, nature is the producer of nearly 5,000 halogen-containing chemicals. Once dismissed as accidents of nature or isolation artifacts, organohalogen compounds represent an important and ever growing class of natural products, in many cases exhibiting exceptional biological activity. Since the last comprehensive review in 1996 (Vol. 68, this series), there have been discovered an additional 2,500 organochlorine, organobromine, and other organohalogen compounds. These natural organohalogens are biosynthesized by bacteria, fungi, lichen, plants, marine organisms of all types, insects, and higher animals including humans. These compounds are also formed abiogenically, as in volcanoes, forest fires, and other geothermal events.In some instances, natural organohalogens are precisely the same chemicals that man synthesizes for industrial use, and some of the quantities of these natural chemicals far exceed the quantities emitted by man.

This book summarizes the current state of knowledge concerning bacteria that use halogenated organic compounds as respiratory electron acceptors. The discovery of organohalide-respiring bacteria has expanded the range of electron acceptors used for energy conservation, and serves as a prime example of how scientific discoveries are enabling innovative engineering solutions that have transformed remediation practice. Individual chapters provide in-depth background information on the discovery, isolation, phylogeny, biochemistry, genomic features, and ecology of individual organohalide-respiring genera, including Dehalococcoides, Dehalogenimonas, Dehalobacter, Desulfitobacterium and Sulfurospirillum, as well as organohalide-respiring members of the Deltaproteobacteria. The book introduces readers to the fascinating biology of organohalide-respiring bacteria, offering a valuable resource for students, engineers and practitioners alike.

The volumes of this classic series, now referred to simply as "Zechmeister" after its founder, L. Zechmeister, have appeared under the Springer Imprint ever since the series' inauguration in 1938. It is therefore not really surprising to find out that the list of contributing authors, who were awarded a Nobel Prize, is quite long: Kurt Alder, Derek H.R. Barton, George Wells Beadle, Dorothy Crowfoot-Hodgkin, Otto Diels, Hans von Euler-Chelpin, Paul Karrer, Luis Federico Leloir, Linus Pauling, Vladimir Prelog, with Walter Norman Haworth and Adolf F.J. Butenandt serving as members of the editorial board. The volumes contain contributions on various topics related to the origin, distribution, chemistry, synthesis, biochemistry, function or use of various classes of naturally occurring substances ranging from small molecules to biopolymers. Each contribution is written by a recognized authority in his field and provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the topic in question. Addressed to biologists, technologists and chemists alike, the series can be used by the expert as a source of information and literature citations and by the non-expert as a means of orientation in a rapidly developing discipline.

This book summarizes the state-of-the-art knowledge on naturally occurring organohalogens, of which more than 3700 are documented. The chapters cover all aspects of this field, including the structural diversity and sources of organohalogens, the mechanisms for their formation and biodegradation, the clinical use of dichloroacetate, and the synthesis of the powerful anticancer chlorine-containing cryptophycin. Both biogenic and abiogenic sources of organohalogens are treated, the latter of which include volcanic emissions and abiogenic formation in soil. Halogenation in humans, fungi, and in the ocean are covered in separate chapters. Sources and biosynthesis of the relatively rare natural organofluorines are also discussed in this volume. By better understanding of the role nature plays in the area of organohalogens, we can more intelligently regulate the production, use, and disposal of man-made organohalogen compounds.

This series is world-renowned as the leading compilation of current reviews of this vast field. Internationally acclaimed for more than 40 years, The Alkaloids, founded by the late Professor R.H.F. Manske, continues to provide outstanding coverage of this rapidly expanding field. Each volume provides, through its distinguished authors, up-to-date and detailed coverage of particular classes or sources of alkaloids. Up-to-date reviews on a large and very important group of natural products from both a chemical and biological perspective Comprehensive, dynamic reviews written by leading authors in the respective fields Broad coverage on the biological aspects

Alkaloids make up a major group of natural products derived from a wide variety of organisms, and are widely used as medicinal and biological agents. Each volume in this series provides detailed coverage of particular classes or sources of alkaloids.

The first contribution reviews the phytochemical, chemical, and biological literature on members of the ingenane class of diterpenoids from their first isolation in 1968 through 2015, highlighting unresolved issues both common to phorboids and specific to ingenol derivatives. The biogenesis of ingenol is discussed in the light of the Jakupovic proposal of a dissection between the formation of the macrocyclic Euphorbia diterpenoids and the phorboids, and the clinical development of ingenol mebutate is chronicled in the light of its “reverse-pharmacology” focus. The second contribution offers a comprehensive view of the chemical wealth and the taxonomic problems currently impeding chemical and biological investigations of the genus Laurencia. It addresses the botanical description and the growth and population dynamics of the genus, as well as its chemical diversity and ecological relations; the secondary metabolites as well as their sources of isolation; and finally the biological activity.

The dynamic field of flavin and flavoprotein biochemistry has seen rapid advancement in recent years. This comprehensive two volume set provides an overview of all aspects of contemporary research in this important class of enzymes. Topics treated include flavoproteins involved in energy generation, signal transduction and electron transfer (including respiration); oxygen activation by flavoproteins; the biology and biochemistry of complex flavoproteins; flavin and flavoprotein photochemistry/photophysics as well as biotechnological applications of flavoproteins. Recent developments in this field include new structures (including those of large membrane-integral electron transfer complexes containing FMN or FAD), elucidation of the role of flavoproteins in cell signalling pathways (including both phototaxis and the circadian cycle) and important new insights into the reaction mechanisms of flavin-containing enzymes. This volume focussing on oxidases, dehydrogenases and related systems is an essential reference for all researchers in biochemistry, chemistry, photochemistry and photophysics working on flavoenzymes.