Med Botany Exam 1

How to protect yourself from CHAB

Avoid being in or consuming the water. Avoid using excess fertilizer, maintain household septic systems. Maintain buffer of vegetation, which can filter nutrients and prevent them from reaching water where cyanobacteria is. In case of pet/livestock exposure, wash off cyanobacteria, go to vet in case of signs of toxicity

Spirulina

Biomass of cyanobacteria that is edible. Arthrospira plantensis, fusiformis, maxima.

Benefits: antioxidant, high in protein, B vitamins, and essential minerals

Karenia brevis

Eukaryotic organism that causes a type of algal bloom called red tides. Especially in southwest Florida. Single-celled, dinoflagellate, photosynthetic. Produced toxin polyketide (brevetoxin), which is hydrophobic and can bind to sodium channel and keep it open, affective neurons, muscles, secretory cells from Na+ influx. NOT NA/K ATPASE. Primarily removed from body via bile and urine. Can accumulate in shellfish like oysters and clams, causing nausea/diarrhea if eaten. Blooms kill fish

Mycotoxins

Fungal toxins.

Ape’s Perspective Reading #7 key points

Three aims of paper: find overlap between use of plants by non-human primates and humans is due to cultural belief that animals are source of medicinal knowledge, overlap between primate and human medicinal plant use, review the primate use of plants for health maintenance and self medication

Four ways apes maintained health: Curative, sickness, avoidance behaviors (drink upstream, filter with wells), preventative/prophylactic (consuming certain plant in anticipation of maybe getting sick later in season)

Origins of human medicine: Observation of other animals (wild boars using stimulant), trial and error, observing/experimenting on other people (prisoners)

Plants mentioned and some mechanisms of action:

Migration

Helped people discover new food sources, what is medicinal, what is edible, etc

Neanderthal medicine

neanderthal teeth plaque showed residues indicating they consumed plants with medicinal properties (chamomile), may have cooked their food (wood smoke), starch granules,

matricaria, achillea genuses (asteraceae family) - medical value

Ancient Carb Revolution

Before agriculture, place in Turkey where people were making grain-based foods (stews, alcohol) using wild grains. Sites where grains were stored.

Why consume 25 different plant groups a week?

maintain gut microbiome, get a diversity of nutrients/fibers, prevent intolerances

Lamiaceae

Mint family, square stalks, opposite leaves

Malvacae

Mallow Family, hibiscus, chocolate, radial symmetry. 5 petals numerous stamens fused to form column around pistil. Petals slimy if crushed

Fabaceae

Pea family. Bilateral or asymmetric. Irregular flowers with banner petal wing petals and fused keel petals. Rosary pea is example

Brassicaceae

Mustard Family. Symmetrical flower 4 petals six stamens of which four stamens are tall and two are short.

Rosaceae

Rose family. Five petals and lots of stamens in the middle in the classic wild variety but the selected varieties may have many more petals and these plants have tannins giving astringent qualities

Gastrointestinal Tract

Mouth, larynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ilium), large intestine (cecum, appendix, colon), rectum, anus

Low diversity of gut microbiome causes

Atopy (Allergy sensitivity), dermatitis (eczema), asthma. Gut associated with inflammatory disease.

What do masks have to do with medical botany?

Have been used long time for protection against contagious diseases in early modern Europe. Belief in miasma (bad air) so masks held perfumes and spices too.

Early mask materials

Silk from silkworm larvae, which fed on mulberry leaves (Moraceae family). Linen from flax (Linaceae family). Cotton (Malvaceae family)

Big Bang when

13.7 bya

Sun age

4.6 bya

Earth and moon age

4.5 bya

Basic history of life

Life began in water. Prokaryotes came 3.5 bya. Endosymbiosis and eukaryotes 2 bya. Complex multicellularity 600 mya.

Animal and Plant timeline

130 mya - flowering plants

200 mya - mammals

251 mya - GREAT DYING and end of Permian

320 mya - replites

370 mya - amphibians

475 mya - land plants and then land fungi

Pangaea evidence

Shape of continents fit together and distribution of fossils across continents

Reading #1 - add more

Fossils push back origin of key plant groups by millions of years.

Stomata morphology can help identify plant

it was possible to identify various plants accurately due to the presence of well preserved fossils where plant plants such as leaves were well protected under a waxy cuticle.

Stomata are important structures that may help with plant identification.

Secondary metabolites

organic compounds made by organisms like plants, fungi, and bacteria that are not needed for basic growth or reproduction, but help the organism survive and interact with its environment. terpenoids, phenolic compounds, and nitrogen-containing compounds (such as alkaloids)

Primates and humans timeline

primates - 70 mya

homo genus - 2.5 - 2.8 mya

homo sapiens - 300,000 ya

primate and human ancestry (similarities)

similar physiology, susceptibility to infections (SIV v HIV), similar behaviors (foraging, medicine behaviors)

Plant evolution timeline

charophytes

450 mya - land plants (bryophytes)

400 mya - vascular plants (ferns)

300 mya - first seed plants (gymnosperms)

200 mya - flowering plants (angiosperms)

Botany In A Day

Reading #4 - Plant as Pugilist

Book review.

plants are at the bottom of the food chain; toxins are defense metabolites to resist being consumed

Cyanide and mustard oil lace the tissues of many plants

The reviewer (Ian Baldwin) mentions that tolerance traits—such as kinase enzymes  that place plant sugars in below ground  storage during attack—are not mentioned by Walters in his new book.

Reading #3 - Medical Botany

med students need to know more about med botany. too much reliance on pharmacy knowing that knowledge. tansy v pansy: spelling is important

Cycadophyta

250 mya. Seeds and roots used as food. nonflowering. Cycadaceae and Zamiaceae. Contains mutagen cycasin, which can be minimized through repeated washing in changes of water.

Cycasin

Mutagen that enters cell because it can attach to Na+/glucose cotransporter. Once glucose cleaved, attaches to guanine, which becomes methylguanine that binds to thymine instead of cytosine. Exposure in young linked to neurological disorders (Alzheimer-like dementia and Parkinsonism).

BMAA

Metabolite made by cyanobacteria found to cause neurological disease in Chamorro people of Guam. Also present in cycads but not enough to cause disease. Eating Flying Fox brains delivers high concentration that causes disease. ALS/Alzheimer’s/Parkinson like symptoms. L-Alanine is precursor. Replaced L-serine in proteins.

Technological and Scientific Progress

7000 BC - Agriculture

5000 BC - Bronze Age, Writing

1000 AD - Guns

1450 AD - Printing

1500 - 1800 - Extensive ship exploration

Microscopy

1600. Cells discovered in 1650.

Linnaean taxonomy

Binomial nomenclature. 1700s. Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

Morphine

early 1800s. Purified from Papaver somniferum.

Mendel

1860s. Pea plant experiments and inheritance patterns.

Discovered that genes are on chromosomes when

1900

1928 - 1953

Discovered that DNA is the molecule of inheritance

Penicillin from fungi

DNA structure discovered

1960s

Amino acid codon chart/genetic code identified

CRISPR

Found in 2012. Cas9 enzyme attached to complimentary RNA, which recognizes target gene and cuts it out.

mRNA vaccines

covid vaccine is example. mRNA delivered to cell to produce virus’s spike protein, which creates immune response to foreign protein.

Medical Botany

How plants affect human health.

How much of diet is plants

80%

Chinese-Japanese region

millet, rice, soybean

Indochinese-Indonesian region

Rice, yam, banana

Australian region

macadamia nut

Mediterranean region

Oats, wheat

African region

Millet, sorghum, teff, wheat, yam

European-Siberian region

apple, lettuce

Hindustani region

rice, banana, mango, citrus

Central Asia

Rye, wheat

Near Eastern region

Barley, lentil, rye, wheat

South American region

Cassava, potato, sweet potato

Central American and Mexican region

Maize, potato

North American

Blueberry, sunflower

How much of world uses/relies on herbal medicines

70%

How much of modern drugs based on fungi? examples?

25-50%

aspirin discovered from related plant compound

lovastatin harvested from aspergillus terreus cultures

simvastatin synthesized from lovastatin

Morphine

Alkaloid. Analgesic. From Papaver somniferum

Aspirin

Salicylate. Analgesic, anti-inflammatory. From Salix alba (white willow tree) and Filipendula ulmaria (meadowsweet)

Paclitaxel

Terpenoid. Ovarian, lung, and breast cancer. Taxus brevifolia (western yew tree). Taxaceae family

Vincristine

Alkaloid. Leukaemia treatment, chemotherapy treatment. Attack microtubules. Catharanthis roseus (rosy periwinkle)

ADME & T

Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, Toxicity.

Drug interactions

plant secondary compounds can inhibit human drug detoxifying enzymes, causing toxicity. Grapefruit juice, pomegranate juice, etc.

Theobromine in chocolate

Safe for humans, bad for dogs. Metabolize it slowly causing sickness, maybe death.

Food v Medicine

Foods have important secondary metabolites, drugs can have nutritional value (herbs have fats, amino acids, etc).

Ricin

Toxic protein from waste of castor oil processing, inhibits protein production. Euphorbiaceae family. Ricinus communis

alpha-amantin

a deadly cyclic peptide toxin produced by poisonous mushrooms. stops rna pol II.

plants affect on health, microbiology

Malassezia fungi on skin: natural, but can cause irritation, dandruff if too much

Human gut yeast metabolism

Why are doctors prescribing nature

Going outside for a walk associated with lower blood pressure, asthma. Green and blue spaces good for mental health. Plants release phytoncides, - antimicrobial volatile organic compounds that protect them from harmful insects, bacteria, and fungi. Inhaling them can give immune boost, lower stress, better sleep.

Secondary metabolites

non-essential organic molecules. different from basic cell metabolism and reproduction molecules.

Types of drugs

antimicrobials, vaccines, cardiovascular drugs, nervous system drugs, hormones, chemotherapeutics, immunosuppressives, antisera

Tropane alkaloids

Inhibition of ACH receptor (highly toxic)

Cyanogenic glycosides

Inhibition of respiration

Cardiac glycosides

Inhibition of Na+/K+ -ATPase (highly toxic)

Terpenoids

Based on isoprene motif

Phenolics

Phenylalanine precursor

Nitrogen-containing

Various amino acids and isoprene as precursors

bacteria and archaea arose when?

3.8 bya, interact with each other in many ways (feed, compete, work together, etc)

Aquatic eukaryotes, when did they arise, examples?

2 bya. Protists, algae

When did complex multicellularity and terrestrial organisms arise

500 mya

Fish came when

500 mya

When do plants and fungi colonize land

475 mya

When do animals colonize land

375 mya

Flowering plants arise when

300 mya

How did humans learn about medicinal and toxic properties

Experience/observation: taste, smell, experiment, self-observation, observing others, observing other animals

Vinblastine

Purified in 1958 and used in cancer treatment. Through simple animal experimentation of extracts. Attack microtubules

FDA

Food and Drug Administration. Evaluation of food and drug safety. Regulate labeling of dietary supplements (e.g. herbs)

FTC

Federal Trade Commission. Nutritional supplement advertising

NIH

clinical trial processes

DEA

Drug Enforcement Administration. Enforce controlled substance laws. Drug trafficking and distribution laws.

Encephalization of human brain, nutrients needed

Brain needs selective nutrients, like iodine, DHA. brain is 2% of body mass but 20% of energy intake.

Human migration coastal route

Migrated into Americas via coastal routes rich in ecosystems. Lower sea levels, nutrient rich food available. Submerged settlements support theory

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (cHAB)

Prokaryotes that bloom what water is warm, stagnant, and rich in nutrients (P and N), encouraged by fertilizer runoff and septic tank overflows. Produce polysaccharides that help them join together in a film. Oxygen produced by bacteria becomes trapped in the network, helping the bloom float. Some blooms release harmful cyanotoxins (such as BMAA). Some types also have gas vesicles in cells make them float.

Mediterranean Diet

Alters gut microbiome, improving health in older people. Increase in short/branch fatty acid production and lower production of secondary bile acids, p-cresols, ethanol, and CO2.

Early land plants during the Permian include

podocarps, seed ferns, extinct cycad-like Bennettiales