Describe two consequences of being sessile that have made plants useful for the
ID: 148040 • Letter: D
Question
Describe two consequences of being sessile that have made plants useful for the discovery of compounds that can enhance human health. Explain how natural selection has operated to produce plant chemical diversity and what functions these compounds serve in plants in relation to the two consequences you described. For one of these consequences, describe in detail one hypothesis for the evolutionary mechanisms causing chemical diversity to arise in plants, giving one example of a study supporting this hypothesis.
Name two forms of traditional medicine. Describe how traditional medicinal knowledge can be used to facilitate discovery of novel drugs plants. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this approach as compared to one alternative approach (of your choosing) for drug discovery.
Draw a classification scheme organizing information about six plant-derived medicines . Include in your scheme: (a) class of the compound, (b) its molecular structure, (c) the scientific name and family of the plant from which it is derived, (d) its function in the plant, and (e) its medicinal properties for humans.
In a separate section, for each compound, write a short description of how the compound’s function in plants causes it to function as a medicine the way it does in humans and of how it was discovered and developed into a drug or supplement.
Explanation / Answer
The two consequences of being sessile leading to compounds that can enhance human health can be listed as the following:
1. Alkaloid compound Quinine from Cinchona which is used as a curative treatment against malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax.
2. Glycosidic compound Digoxin derived from the foxglove plant or Digitalis purpurea which is used as a diuretic and for the treatment of heart conditions.
The term "sessile" refers to the attachment of an object to the substrate (or a base), in other words fixed or immovable. All living organisms including plants are susceptible to a variety of biotic (pathogens and herbivores) and abiotic (drought, excessive rainfall, harsh cold) stress factors. However, being sessile organisms, plants cannot, in literal sense "move" and relocate away from the stress factors. Thus, through evolutionary mechanisms of natural selection plants have developed a wide variety of chemical compounds to protect themselves against insect, herbivore attacks and plant pathogen infections. Phytochemicals or plant derived chemical compounds are rigorously studied under the field of Phytochemistry. Phytochemicals are widely used for human health benefits and they are highly active in human biology.
These secondary metabolites or phytochemicals are generally low molecular weight compounds with complex structures. However they are not necessary for growth or development of the plant instead function as vital cogs in diverse mechanisms of immunity and pollinator attraction. They maintain symbiotic associations and inter-plant communications. It has been postulated that the secondary metabolites are a direct result of evolution of novel genes and systematic gene duplications through a positive selection procedure to aid the survival of plants while coping with the severe and varied biotic/abiotic stress factors. The secondary metabolites are structurally and functionally diverse and are highly significant with every species having its unique and identifiable arsenal to ward off microbes and insects.
As an example, Azadirachtin, a terpenoid from Neem or the Indian lilac, Azadirachta indica was a result of evolutionary mechanisms that allowed the species to survive insect attacks and microbial infections.
The forms of traditional medicine are:
1. Folk medicine which can coexist with institutionalized systems of modern medicines. Traditional Chinese and Korean folk medicines, Arabic indigenious and Uyghur (Turkish) folk medicines are a few noteworthy mentions.
2. Home remedies that include herbs, spices and vegetables which may or may not have any scientifically proven data to stake its claim as a remedial treatment.
Pharmacognosy is the study of medicinal drugs derived from plant sources that are beneficial for humans. One major advantage of such a therapy is that it can be derived from a natural sources which is sustainable. Large scale production is also feasible in case of endemic diseases.
A major disadvantage of the method is the need for specialized laboratory equipments required to purify and isolate the secondary metabolites from the plant source. Another major concern of using plant derived medicines are the side effects associated with the compounds.
It is always beneficial to employ molecular modelling tools to synthesize chemicals that mimic the plant derived compound or selective addition/deletion of residues to the isolated compound to weed out the side-effects. Modifications to the plant derived chemicals and secondary metabolites seem to be way to cure a number of human ailments.
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