This article is about the concept in biology. For military applications, see Chemical warfare.
Monarch butterfly caterpillar on milkweed plant. Milkweeds use three primary defenses to limit damage caused by caterpillars: hairs on the leaves, cardenolide toxins, and latex fluids, but Monarchs have evolved to remain unaffected by these defenses. Cardenolide toxins sequestered during the Monarch's larval stage from feeding on the plant remains in the adult, making it unpalatable to predators.
Chemical defense is a strategy employed by many organisms to avoid consumption by producing toxic or repellent metabolites or chemical warnings which incite defensive behavioral changes.[1][2] The production of defensive chemicals occurs in plants, fungi, and bacteria, as well as invertebrate and vertebrate animals.[3][4] The class of chemicals produced by organisms that are considered defensive may be considered in a strict sense to only apply to those aiding an organism in escaping herbivory or predation.[1] However, the distinction between types of chemical interaction is subjective and defensive chemicals may also be considered to protect against reduced fitness by pests, parasites, and competitors.[5][6][7] Repellent rather than toxic metabolites are allomones, a sub category signaling metabolites known as semiochemicals. Many chemicals used for defensive purposes are secondary metabolites derived from primary metabolites which serve a physiological purpose in the organism.[1] Secondary metabolites produced by plants are consumed and sequestered by a variety of arthropods and, in turn, toxins found in some amphibians, snakes, and even birds can be traced back to arthropod prey.[8][9] There are a variety of special cases for considering mammalian antipredatory adaptations as chemical defenses as well.[10]
^ abcBerenbaum MR (January 1995). "The chemistry of defense: theory and practice". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 92 (1): 2–8. Bibcode:1995PNAS...92....2B. doi:10.1073/pnas.92.1.2. PMC 42807. PMID 7816816.
^Cite error: The named reference Dicke-2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Clucas B (2010). "Defensive Chemicals". In Breed MD, Moore J (eds.). Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. Oxford: Academic Press. pp. 481–486. doi:10.1016/B978-0-08-045337-8.00293-X. ISBN 9780080453378.
^Walters D (2011). Plant defense: warding off attack by pathogens, herbivores and parasitic plants. John Wiley & Sons.
^Whittaker RH, Feeny PP (February 1971). "Allelochemics: chemical interactions between species". Science. 171 (3973). New York, N.Y.: 757–70. Bibcode:1971Sci...171..757W. doi:10.1126/science.171.3973.757. JSTOR 1730763. PMID 5541160.
^Gloer JB (1995). "The chemistry of fungal antagonism and defense". Canadian Journal of Botany. 73 (S1): 1265–1274. doi:10.1139/b95-387.
^Lasley EN (1999). "Having Their Toxins and Eating Them Too: Study of the natural sources of many animals' chemical defenses is providing new insights into nature's medicine chest". BioScience. 49 (12): 945–950. doi:10.1525/bisi.1999.49.12.945.
^Savitzky AH, Mori A, Hutchinson DA, Saporito RA, Burghardt GM, Lillywhite HB, Meinwald J (September 2012). "Sequestered defensive toxins in tetrapod vertebrates: principles, patterns, and prospects for future studies". Chemoecology. 22 (3): 141–158. Bibcode:2012Checo..22..141S. doi:10.1007/s00049-012-0112-z. PMC 3418492. PMID 22904605.
^Hettyey A, Üveges B, Móricz ÁM, Drahos L, Capon RJ, Van Buskirk J, et al. (December 2019). "Predator-induced changes in the chemical defence of a vertebrate". The Journal of Animal Ecology. 88 (12): 1925–1935. Bibcode:2019JAnEc..88.1925H. doi:10.1111/1365-2656.13083. PMID 31408536.
Chemicaldefense is a strategy employed by many organisms to avoid consumption by producing toxic or repellent metabolites or chemical warnings which incite...
Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense (CBRN defense) or Nuclear, biological, and chemical protection (NBC protection) is protective...
branch of the Regular Army by the National Defense Act of 1920. In 1945, it was redesignated the Chemical Corps. Discussion of the topic dates back to...
influence the behavior, growth, or survival of herbivores. These chemicaldefenses can act as repellents or toxins to herbivores or reduce plant digestibility...
Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological...
of defense against predators. Unlike pheromones, allomones harm the receiver at the benefit of the producer. This grouping encompasses the chemical arsenal...
biochemically synthesize terpenes with intense aromas as a method of chemicaldefense in attempts to repel predators, and invite pollinators. Because terpenes...
been shown to be unpalatable to some species of birds thanks to this chemicaldefense, which could explain their warning coloration. As glucosinolates are...
disturbed, Rilaena triangularis emits a strong-smelling secretion as a chemicaldefense. This fluid contains 1,4-benzoquinone, 1,4-naphthoquinone and caprylic...
enough to cause a human to hemorrhage to death (See Lonomiasis). This chemical is being investigated for potential medical applications. Most urticating...
Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) is a sub-office of the ASA(ALT). The Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical,...
plants and insects are often involved in a chemical evolutionary arms race. As plants develop chemicaldefenses to herbivory, insects which feed on them...
The United States Army Medical Research Institute of ChemicalDefense (USAMRICD) is a military medical research institute located at Aberdeen Proving Ground...
differentiation among the Bocas del Toro populations of Oophaga pumilio. The chemicaldefense mechanisms of the Dendrobates family are the result of exogenous means...
with A. buprestoides) is particularly well known for its very potent chemicaldefense spray which it deploys from a pair of glands which open at the front...
damage control on a warship at sea. Indian Navy's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence (NBCD) School and Center for Marine Engineering Technology are...
plankton reflect defense responses to specific attack systems". Indeed, phytoplankton retain an abundance of mechanical and chemicaldefense mechanisms including...
of a third organization, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA). BGAD provides munitions, chemicaldefense equipment, and ammunition support to...
deter herbivores and environmental stresses by using an intrinsic chemicaldefense, particularly in the leaves, cotyledons, pedicel, carpopodium, and...
butterfly are capable of incorporating these plant compounds as a form of chemicaldefense against predators. In animals and humans, poisons are often bound to...
completed on July 7, 2023. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of ChemicalDefense (USAMRICD), at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, continues to operate...
J.P. (October 30, 1992). "Homobatrachotoxin in the Genus Pitohui: ChemicalDefense in Birds?". Science. 258 (5083): 799–801. Bibcode:1992Sci...258..799D...
and zinc to kill pathogens. In the stomach, gastric acid serves as a chemicaldefense against ingested pathogens. Within the genitourinary and gastrointestinal...
defenseless until it reaches this length. However, the absence of a chemicaldefense allows for the shortening of the larval stage. Automeris io has a larval...
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