Abstract
Plant waxes are complex mixtures of hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters, acids, and combinations of these that are deposited in a layer outside the epidermal cells. This complex mixture of lipids probably is synthesized in the epidermal cells of most plants and exuded onto the surface. Plants usually possess cutin, a layer of cross-esterified hydroxy fatty acids which is also deposited on the surface of the epidermal cells (Kolattukudy, 1980). This layer is impregnated with waxes. The combined lipid covering not only protects the plant from invasion by foreign organisms but also helps to regulate transpiration.
Keywords
- Fatty Alcohol
- Social Wasp
- Testosterone Propionate
- Nest Parasite
- Foreign Organism
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Atsatt, P. R. and L. C. Bliss, Some effects of emulsified hexa-octadecanol on germination, establishment, and growth of Kentucky bluegrass, Agron. J., 55, 533–537 (1963).
BagnèRes, A. G. and E. D. Morgan, A simple method for analysis of insect cuticular hydrocarbons, J. Chem. Ecol., 16, 3263–3276 (1990).
Chapman, R. F., The role of the leaf surface in food selection by Acridids and other insects, Comportement des insectes et milieu trophique, Colloques Internationaux CNRS, 265, 133–149 (1977).
Davin, L. B. and N. G. Lewis, Phenylpropanoid metabolism: Biosynthesis of monolignols, lignans and neolignans, lignins and suberins, in Phenolic Metabolism in Plants (H. A. Stafford and R. K. Ibrahim, eds.), 325–375, Plenum, New York, 1992.
Eglinton, G. and R. J. Hamilton, The distribution of alkanes, in Chemical Plant Taxonomy (T. Swain, ed.), 187–217, Academic Press, London, 1963.
Espelie, K. E. and H. R. Hermann, Congruent cuticular hydrocarbons: Biochemical convergence of a social wasp, an ant and a host plant, Biochem. Syst. Ecol., 16, 505–508 (1988).
Espelie, K. E. and H. R. Hermann, Surface lipids of the social wasp Polistes annularis (L.) and its nest and nest pedicel, J. Chem. Ecol., 16, 1841–1852 (1990).
Espelie, K. E., J. W. Wenzel, and G. Chang, Surface lipids of social wasp Polishes metricus Say and its nest and nest pedicel and their relation to nestmate recognition, J. Chem. Ecol., 16, 2229–2241 (1990).
Gross, D., Wachstumsregulatorisch wirksame Pflanzeninhaltsstoffe, Z. Chem., 20, 397–406 (1980).
Harwood, J. L., Plant acyl lipids: Structure, distribution, and analysis, in Lipids: Structure and Function (P. K. Stumpf, ed.), Vol. 4 of The Biochemistry of Plants (P. K. Stumpf and E. E. Conn, eds.), 1–55, Academic Press, New York, 1980.
Kolattukudy, P. E., Cutin, suberin, and waxes, in Lipids: Structure and Function (P. K. Stumpf, ed.), Vol. 4 of The Biochemistry of Plants (P. K. Stumpf and E. E. Conn, eds.), 571–645, Academic Press, New York, 1980.
Kolattukudy, P. E. and K. E. Espelie, Biosynthesis of cutin, suberin, and associated waxes, in Biosynthesis and Biodégradation of Wood Components (T. Higuchi, ed.), 161–207, Academic Press, Orlando, FL, 1985.
Miwa, T. K., Jojoba oil wax esters and derived fatty acids and alcohols: Gas Chromatographic analysis, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 48, 259–264 (1971).
Miwa, T. K. and I. A. Wolff, Fatty acids, fatty alcohols, and wax esters from Limnanthes douglasii (meadowfoam) seed oil, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 39, 320–322 (1962).
Pollard, M. R., J. B. Ohlrogge, and P. K. Stumpf, Wax ester formation in the developing jojoba seed, in Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Joboba, (D. M. Yermanos, ed.), 71–81, International Committee on Jojoba and the Dept. of Botany and Plant Science, University of California Press, Riverside, 1978.
Schery, R. W., Plants for Man, 2nd ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1972.
Spencer, G. F. and R. D. Plattner, Compositional analysis of natural wax ester mixtures by tandem mass spectrometry, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 61, 90–94 (1984).
Stadler, E., Contact chemoreception, in Chemical Ecology of Insects (W. J. Bell and R. T. Cardé, eds.), 3–35, Chapman & Hall, London, 1984.
Stadler, E., Oviposition and feeding stimuli in leaf surface waxes, in Insects and the Plant Surface (B. Juniper and R. Southwood, eds.), 105–121, Arnold, London, 1986.
Stowe, M. K., Chemical mimicry, in Chemical Mediation of Coevolution (K. C. Spencer, ed.), 513–580, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1988.
Taylor, S. A., S. R. Olsen, J. P. Vavra, W. J. Roberts, G. M. Aubertin, G. W. Gorsline, J. P. Law, Jr., and F. M. Rhoades, Can fatty alcohols reduce water losses?, Crops Soils, 16(8), 7–9 (1964).
Wisniak, J., The Chemistry of Jojoba, American Oil Chemical Society, Champaign, IL, 1988.
Yermanos, D. M. (ed.), Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Joboba, International Committee on Jojoba and the Dept. of Botany and Plant Science, University of California Press, Riverside, 1978.
Yermanos, D. M., Jojoba, in Resource Materials (T. A. McClure and E. S. Lipinsky, eds.), Vol. 2 of Handbook of Biosolar Resources (O. R. Zaborsky, ed.), 245–257, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1981.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Seigler, D.S. (1998). Plant Waxes. In: Plant Secondary Metabolism. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4913-0_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4913-0_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7228-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4913-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive