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The terpenoids, also known as isoprenoids, are a class of naturally occurring organic chemicals derived from the 5-carbon compound isoprene and its derivatives called terpenes, diterpenes, etc. While sometimes used interchangeably with "terpenes", terpenoids contain additional functional groups, usually containing oxygen. When combined with the hydrocarbon terpenes, terpenoids comprise about 80,000 compounds. They are the largest class of plant secondary metabolites, representing about 60% of known natural products. Many terpenoids have substantial pharmacological bioactivity and are therefore of interest to medicinal chemists.
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them resist fungi, bacteria and plant virus infections, and also consumption by insects and other animals. The name comes from Greek φυτόν (phyton) 'plant'. Some phytochemicals have been used as poisons and others as traditional medicine.
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John Geoffrey Tracey was an Australian ecologist and botanist whose pioneering research work in partnership with Dr. Leonard Webb within the Rainforest Ecology Unit of the CSIRO in the 1950s led to the publication of the first systematic classification of Australian rainforest vegetation in the Journal of Ecology in 1959. By the early 80's, after decades of ongoing research, Tracey and Webb had accumulated a significant corpus of scientific evidence in support of the theory that Australian tropical rainforests had evolved in Gondwana over 100 million years ago and were not, as previously believed, relatively recent arrivals from South East Asia. This evidence, in combination with Tracey and Webb's 1975 publication of a collection of 15 vegetation maps entitled "Vegetation of the Humid Tropical Region of North Queensland", and Tracey's 1982 paper "The Vegetation of the Humid Tropical Region of North Queensland", helped to establish the scientific basis for a number of major conservation campaigns across Queensland and paved the way for the subsequent successful World Heritage nomination of the Wet Tropics of Queensland by Aila Keto in 1988.
Leonard James Webb was a widely awarded Australian ecologist and ethnobotanist who was the author or joint-author of over 112 scientific papers throughout the course of his professional career. His pioneering work as Senior Principal Research Scientist alongside Geoff Tracey in the CSIRO Rainforest Ecology Research Unit in the 1950s led to the publication of the first systematic classification of Australian rainforest vegetation in the Journal of Ecology in 1959.
Hilda Geissmann was a pioneering Australian botanist, naturalist and photographer whose botanical and ornithological research within the Mount Tamborine area of South East Queensland significantly contributed to the early ecological understanding of the region.
Samuel Justin Dansie was an Australian forester and botanist who was an influential early figure associated with the emergence of a conservation ethos in the use and management of the Wet Tropical rainforests of Northern Queensland. During his 36-year tenure within the Queensland Forestry Department, Dansie was instrumental in identifying and securing the protection of a number of key conservation areas, both within and outside of state forests in the region.
References
- ↑ Tracey, J. G. (John Geoffrey); Borschmann, Gregg (1994), John Tracey interviewed by Gregg Borschmann in the People's forest oral history project, pp. 9, 12, 52
- ↑ Price, J. R.; Lamberton, J. A.; Culvenor, C.C.J (1992), The Australian Phytochemical Survey: historical aspects of the CSIRO search for new drugs in Australian plants. Historical Records of Australian Science, 9(4), 335–356, Australian Academy of Science, pp. 335, 336
- ↑ Price, J. R.; Lamberton, J. A.; Culvenor, C.C.J (1992), The Australian Phytochemical Survey: historical aspects of the CSIRO search for new drugs in Australian plants. Historical Records of Australian Science, 9(4), 335–356, Australian Academy of Science, pp. 354, 355
- ↑ Collins, D.J.; Culvenor, C.C.J; Lamberton, J. A. (1990), Plants for Medicines: A Chemical and Pharmacological Survey of Plants in the Australian Region, CSIRO
- ↑ Webb, L. J. (Leonard James) (1950), An Australian phytochemical survey : Alkaloids in Queensland flowering plants, Brisbane
- ↑ Webb, L. J.; Tracey, J. G.; Haydock, K.P. (1959), An Australian phytochemical survey. III. Saponins in eastern Australian flowering plants, CSIRO, doi:10.25919/5xj5-7648