Saponins are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites, being organic chemicals, that have a foamy quality when agitated in water and a high molecular weight. They are present in a wide range of plant species throughout the bark, leaves, stems, roots and flowers but found particularly in soapwort, a flowering plant, the soapbark tree, common corn-cockle, baby’s breath and soybeans. They are used in soaps, medicines, fire extinguishers, as dietary supplements, for synthesis of steroids, and in carbonated beverages. Saponins are both water and fat soluble, which gives them their useful soap properties. Some examples of these chemicals are glycyrrhizin and quillaia, a bark extract used in beverages.
Holoplankton are organisms that are planktic for their entire life cycle. Holoplankton can be contrasted with meroplankton, which are planktic organisms that spend part of their life cycle in the benthic zone. Examples of holoplankton include some diatoms, radiolarians, some dinoflagellates, foraminifera, amphipods, krill, copepods, and salps, as well as some gastropod mollusk species. Holoplankton dwell in the pelagic zone as opposed to the benthic zone. Holoplankton include both phytoplankton and zooplankton and vary in size. The most common plankton are protists.
Dicathais is a genus of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, the rock snails. This genus is monotypic; the only species in it is Dicathais orbita, common name the white rock shell or cart-rut shell, found round the coasts of Australia and New Zealand.
The common starfish, common sea star or sugar starfish is the most common and familiar starfish in the north-east Atlantic. Belonging to the family Asteriidae, it has five arms and usually grows to between 10–30 cm across, although larger specimens are known. The common starfish is usually orange or brownish in color, and sometimes violet; specimens found in deeper waters are pale. The common starfish is found on rocky and gravelly substrates where it feeds on mollusks and other benthic invertebrates.
Marine invertebrates are the invertebrates that live in marine habitats. Invertebrate is a blanket term that includes all animals apart from the vertebrate members of the chordate phylum. Invertebrates lack a vertebral column, and some have evolved a shell or a hard exoskeleton. As on land and in the air, marine invertebrates have a large variety of body plans, and have been categorised into over 30 phyla. They make up most of the macroscopic life in the oceans.
Richard Bruce Silverman is the Patrick G. Ryan/Aon Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University. His group's main focus is basic and translational research into central nervous system disorders and cancer. He is known for the discovery of pregabalin, which is marketed by Pfizer under the brand name Lyrica.
Asima Chatterjee was an Indian organic chemist noted for her work in the fields of organic chemistry and phytomedicine. Her most notable work includes research on vinca alkaloids, the development of anti-epileptic drugs, and development of anti-malarial drugs. She also authored a considerable volume of work on medicinal plants of the Indian subcontinent. She was the first woman to receive a Doctorate of Science from an Indian university.
Desmosterol (Cholesta-5,24-dien-3β-ol) is a lipid present in the membrane of phytoplankton and an intermediate product in cholesterol synthesis in mammal cells. Structurally, desmosterol has a similar backbone to cholesterol, with the exception of an additional double bond in the structure of desmosterol.
Cominella virgata is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cominellidae.
Science & Technology Australia (STA), formerly known as the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS), is an organisation representing the interests of more than 90,000 Australian scientists and technologists, and promoting their views on a wide range of policy issues to the Australian Government, Australian industry, and the Australian community.
The hypobranchial gland is a glandular structure which is part of the anatomy of many mollusks, including several different families of gastropods, and also many protobranch bivalves. This gland produces mucus as well as biologically active compounds. The cephalopod ink sac is a modified hypobranchial gland.
Bromide peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.18, bromoperoxidase, haloperoxidase (ambiguous), eosinophil peroxidase) is a family of enzymes with systematic name bromide:hydrogen-peroxide oxidoreductase. These enzymes catalyse the following chemical reaction:
Martina Heide Stenzel is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). She is also a Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) University Ambassador. She became editor for the Australian Journal of Chemistry in 2008 and has served as Scientific Editor and as of 2021, as Editorial Board Chair of RSC Materials Horizons.
Sabine Dittmann is an Australian-based marine biologist and expert on the ecology of tidal flats. She is Associate Professor of Marine Biology at Flinders University in Adelaide, and is President of the Australian Marine Sciences Association.
Jeremy K. Nicholson is a professor and pro vice chancellor of Health Sciences at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, where he leads the Australian National Phenome Centre. He is also an emeritus professor of Biological Chemistry at Imperial College London and was the director and principal investigator of the MRC-NIHR National Phenome Centre until 2018.
Kelletia lischkei is a species of large sea snail, or whelk, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Austrosiphonidae.
Mary Jean Garson is an organic chemist and academic in Australia. She currently works for the University of Queensland.
Judy Agnes Raper is an Australian chemical engineer and was previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Wollongong. She has served as a National Science Foundation Director and led the Atomic Energy Research Establishment. She has been Dean & CEO of TEDI-London, a new engineering higher education provider since its incorporation in June, 2019.
Isabel 'Joy' Bear was an Australian chemist who worked at CSIRO for over forty years. She was the first woman to be awarded the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Leighton Medal. She was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2005. Bear identified several metastable zirconium sulphate hydrates, and with Dick Thomas was the first to scientifically describe "petrichor", the smell of rain on dry soil.
Loisette M. Marsh (1928–2021) was a Canadian-born Australian marine biologist.
