Natural Products
This is an interactive lesson that introduces students to the concept of natural products.
- What comes to mind when you hear the words "natural products"?
- Allow some time for discussion, answers might include:
- Health supplements
- Organic/natural foods
- Products made from plants or animals
- Natural products:
- Are also known as secondary metabolites
- Are chemical compounds produced by both macro- and microorganisms
- Are not directly involved in the normal growth, development, or reproduction of the organism
- Are often species-specific (or found in only a small set of species in a narrow phylogenetic group
- Without these compounds the organism suffers from only a mild impairment, lowered survivability/fecundity, aesthetic differences, or else no change in phenotype at all
- Examples of secondary metabolites include:
- Caffeine
- Codeine
- Salicylic acid (active ingredient in aspirin and acne creams)
- Steroids
- Alkaloids - amines produced by plants, animals, and fungi
- Terpenoids - made of multiple isoprene groups. Used for their aromatic properties.
- Glycosides - heavily modified sugar molecules
- Phenols - aromatic alcohols
- Phenazines - parent substance for many dyes
- Polyketides - used as a defense mechanism, they have antibiotic, antiviral, and antifungal properties
- Fatty acid synthase products
- Nonribosomal peptides
- Hybrids of the above three
- Ribosomal peptides
o Hyoscyamine, present in Datura stramonium
o tetrahydrocannabinol, present in cannabis sativa
o Atropine, present in Atropa belladonna, Deadly nightshade
o Cocaine, present in Erythroxylon coca the Coca plant
o Codeine and Morphine, present in Papaver somniferum, the opium poppy
o Tetrodotoxin, a microbial product in Fugu and some salamanders
o Azadirachtin A, (Neem tree)
o Artemisinin, present in Artemisia annua Chinese wormwood
o Steroids (Terpenes with a particular ring structure)
o Saponins (plant steroids, often glycosylated)
o Nojirimycin
o Glucosinolates
o Resveratrol
o Pyocyanin
o Phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (and derivatives)
o Erythromycin
o Discodermolide
o FR-900848
o U-106305
o phloroglucinols
o Vancomycin
o Thiostrepton
o Ramoplanin
o Teicoplanin
o Gramicidin
o Bacitracin
o Epothilone
o Microcin-J25
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