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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » Natural Products Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #133227
Title: MODE OF ACTION OF PHYTOTOXIC TERPENOIDS

Author
item Duke, Stephen
item OLIVA, ANNA - 2ND UNIVERSITY OF NAPLES

Submitted to: Recent Advances in Allelopathy - Volume 2
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/16/2003
Publication Date: 1/5/2004
Citation: DUKE, S.O. Mode of action of phytotoxic terpenoids. Recent Advances in Allelopathy - Volume 2. 2004. P. 201-216.

Interpretive Summary: Book chapter. No interpretive summary required.

Technical Abstract: The actual molecular site of action of few phytotoxic terpenoids is known. General physological effects of representatives of various terpenoid categories and methods used to focus mode of action studies on their potential molecular targets are discussed. In particular, methods such as complementation studies, determining effects on mitosis, and measuring effects on plasma membrane integrity are described. The mode of action of 1,4-cineole and how it was discovered are provided in detail. This monoterpene and a metabolic conversions product of its synthetic herbicide analogue, cinmethylin, are potent inhibitors of asparagine synthetase. The sesquiterpene lactone, artemisinin apparently has an apparently unique, yet still unknown mode of action. The sesquiterpene lactone, dehydrozaluzanin C, appears to be generally cytotoxic, causing rapid plasma membrane disruption, perhaps through interaction with sulfhydryl groups of membrane proteins. Quassinoids appear to have a different, but still unknown, mode of action in plants than in mammalian cells. Saponins may be phytotoxic through their effects on membrane lipids or by effects on specific enzymes. In summary, much more work needs to be done on the mode of action of phytotoxic terpenoids.