Chemical ecology

Chemical ecology is a vast and interdisciplinary field utilizing biochemistry, biology, ecology, and organic chemistry for explaining observed interactions of living things and their environment through chemical compounds (e.g. ecosystem resilience and biodiversity).[1][2] Early examples of the field trace back to experiments with the same plant genus in different environments, interaction of plants and butterflies, and the behavioral effect of catnip.[3][4][5] Chemical ecologists seek to identify the specific molecules (i.e. semiochemicals) that function as signals mediating community or ecosystem processes and to understand the evolution of these signals. The chemicals behind such roles are typically small, readily-diffusible organic molecules that act over various distances that are dependent on the environment (i.e. terrestrial or aquatic) but can also include larger molecules and small peptides.[6][7]

In practice, chemical ecology relies extensively on chromatographic techniques, such as thin-layer chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry (MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to isolate and identify bioactive metabolites. To identify molecules with the sought-after activity, chemical ecologists often make use of bioassay-guided fractionation.[7] Today, chemical ecologists also incorporate genetic and genomic techniques to understand the biosynthetic and signal transduction pathways underlying chemically mediated interactions. [2][7][8]

  1. ^ Bunin, Barry A. (December 1996). "Chemical Ecology: The Chemistry of Biotic Interaction.Thomas Eisner , Jerrold Meinwald". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 71 (4): 562. doi:10.1086/419565. ISSN 0033-5770.
  2. ^ a b Dyer, Lee A.; Philbin, Casey S.; Ochsenrider, Kaitlin M.; Richards, Lora A.; Massad, Tara J.; Smilanich, Angela M.; Forister, Matthew L.; Parchman, Thomas L.; Galland, Lanie M. (2018-05-25). "Modern approaches to study plant–insect interactions in chemical ecology". Nature Reviews Chemistry. 2 (6): 50–64. doi:10.1038/s41570-018-0009-7. ISSN 2397-3358. S2CID 49362070.
  3. ^ Hartmann, Thomas (2008-03-25). "The lost origin of chemical ecology in the late 19th century". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105 (12): 4541–4546. doi:10.1073/pnas.0709231105. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2290813. PMID 18218780.
  4. ^ Ehrlich, Paul R.; Raven, Peter H. (December 1964). "Butterflies and Plants: A Study in Coevolution". Evolution. 18 (4): 586–608. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1964.tb01674.x. ISSN 0014-3820.
  5. ^ Eisner, Thomas (1964-12-04). "Catnip: Its Raison d'Être". Science. 146 (3649): 1318–1320. Bibcode:1964Sci...146.1318E. doi:10.1126/science.146.3649.1318. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 14207462.
  6. ^ Wood William F. (1983). "Chemical Ecology: Chemical Communication in Nature". Journal of Chemical Education. 60 (7): 531–539. Bibcode:1983JChEd..60..531W. doi:10.1021/ed060p531.
  7. ^ a b c Schmidt, Ruth; Ulanova, Dana; Wick, Lukas Y; Bode, Helge B; Garbeva, Paolina (2019-07-09). "Microbe-driven chemical ecology: past, present and future". The ISME Journal. 13 (11): 2656–2663. Bibcode:2019ISMEJ..13.2656S. doi:10.1038/s41396-019-0469-x. ISSN 1751-7362. PMC 6794290. PMID 31289346.
  8. ^ Meinwald, J.; Eisner, T. (19 March 2008). "Chemical ecology in retrospect and prospect". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105 (12): 4539–4540. doi:10.1073/pnas.0800649105. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2290750. PMID 18353981.