It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into natural product. (Discuss)

Secondary metabolites are organic compounds that are not directly involved in the normal growth, development or reproduction of organisms. Unlike primary metabolites, absence of secondary metabolities results not in immediate death, but in long-term impairment of the organism's survivability/fecundity, or aesthetics, or may perhaps, result in no significant change at all. Secondary metabolites are often restricted to a narrow set of species within a phylogenetic group. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Secondary metabolites, also known as natural products, are those products (chemical compounds) of metabolism that are not essential for normal growth, development or reproduction of an organism. ... Benzene is the simplest of the arenes, a family of organic compounds An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon and hydrogen; therefore, carbides, carbonates, carbon oxides and elementary carbon are not organic (see below for more on the definition controversy... The term cell growth is used in two different ways in biology. ... Developmental biology or embryology (Greek εμβρυολογία) is the study of the process by which organisms grow and develop. ... For other uses, see Reproduction (disambiguation) Reproduction is the biological process by which new individual organisms are produced. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... In engineering, survivability is the quantified ability of a system, subsystem, equipment, process, or procedure to continue to function during and after a natural or man-made disturbance; nuclear electromagnetic pulse from the detonation of a nuclear weapon. ... Fecundity is the potential reproductive capacity of an organism or population, measured by the number of gametes (e. ...

The function or importance of these compounds to the organism is usually of an ecological nature as they are used as defenses against predators, parasites and diseases, for interspecies competition, and to facilitate the reproductive processes (coloring agents, attractive smells, etc). Since these compounds are usually restricted to a much more limited group of organisms, they have long been of prime importance in taxonomic research.

Biomining is the process of seeking organisms for the purpose of exploiting their natural products for drug or other technological development directly, or as an inspiration for unnatural products. This will concern secondary metabolites in plants, bacteria, fungi and many marine organisms (sponges, tunicates, corals, snails). In some cases, higher organisms will host a microorganism which is the actual producer of the product in question, as part of a symbiotic relationship. Most of the secondary metabolites of interest to man fit into the following categories, and some fall into more than one: This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta—liverworts Anthocerotophyta—hornworts Bryophyta—mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta—rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta—zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta—clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta—trimerophytes Pteridophyta—ferns and horsetails Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta—seed ferns Pinophyta—conifers Cycadophyta—cycads Ginkgophyta—ginkgo Gnetophyta—gnetae Magnoliophyta—flowering plants... Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ... Animated map exhibiting the worlds oceanic waters. ... Common Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) in their Magnificent Sea Anemone (Heteractis magnifica) home. ...

These categories are broad categories which classify secondary metabolites based on their biosynthetic origin. Since secondary metabolites are often created by modified primary metabolite synthases, or "borrow" substrates of primary metabolite origin, these categories should not be interpreted as saying that all molecules in the category are secondary metabolites (for example the steroid category), but rather that there are secondary metabolites in these categories.

Small "small molecules"

• Alkaloids (usually a small, heavily derivatized amino acid):
  • Hyoscyamine, present in Datura stramonium
  • Atropine, present in Atropa belladonna, Deadly nightshade
  • Cocaine, present in Erythroxylon coca the Coca plant
  • Codeine and Morphine, present in Papaver somniferum, the opium poppy
  • Tetrodotoxin, a microbial product in Fugu and some salamanders
• Terpenoids (come from semiterpene oligomerization):
  • Azadirachtin A, (Neem tree)
  • Artemisinin, present in Artemisia annua Chinese wormwood
  • tetrahydrocannabinol, present in cannabis sativa
  • Steroids (Terpenes with a particular ring structure)
    • Saponins (plant steroids, often glycosylated)
• Glycosides (heavily modified sugar molecules):
  • Nojirimycin
  • Glucosinolates
• Phenols:
  • Resveratrol
• Phenazines:
  • Pyocyanin
  • Phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (and derivatives)

Big "small molecules", produced by large, modular, "molecular factories". Chemical structure of ephedrine, a phenethylamine alkaloid An alkaloid is, strictly speaking, a naturally occurring amine produced by a plant,[1] but amines produced by animals and fungi are also called alkaloids. ... Hyoscyamine is a chemical compound, a tropane alkaloid it is the levo-isomer to atropine. ... Binomial name Datura stramonium L. Datura stramonium, also called Jimson Weed, Gypsum Weed, Loco Weed, Jamestown Weed, Thorn Apple, Angels Trumpet, Devils Trumpet, Mad Hatter, Crazy Tea, and Zombies Cucumber is a common poisonous weed in the Nightshade Family. ... Atropine is a tropane alkaloid extracted from the deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) and other plants of the family Solanaceae. ... Binomial name Atropa belladonna L. Deadly nightshade or belladonna (Atropa belladonna) is a well-known perennial shrub, with leaves and berries that are highly toxic. ... Cocaine (see also: crack) is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. ... Template:For the American comedian Binomial name Erythroxylum coca Lam. ... Codeine (INN) or methylmorphine is an opiate used for its analgesic, antitussive and antidiarrheal properties. ... Morphine (INN) (IPA: ) is a highly potent opiate analgesic drug and is the principal active agent in opium and the prototypical opiate. ... Binomial name Papaver somniferum L. The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the type of poppy from which opium and all refined opiates such as morphine (up to 20%), thebaine (5%), codeine (1%), papaverine (1%), and noscapine (5-8%) are extracted. ... Tetrodotoxin (anhydrotetrodotoxin 4-epitetrodotoxin, tetrodonic acid, TTX) is a potent neurotoxin with no known antidote, which blocks action potentials in nerves by binding to the pores of the voltage-gated, fast sodium channels in nerve cell membranes. ... For other uses, see Fugu (disambiguation). ... Families Salamander is the common name applied to approximately 500 amphibian vertebrates with slender bodies, short legs, and long tails (order Caudata or Urodela). ... The terpenoids, sometimes referred to as isoprenoids, are a large and diverse class of naturally occurring organic chemicals similar to terpenes, derived from five-carbon isoprene units assembled and modified in thousands of ways. ... Many terpenes are derived from conifer resins, here a pine. ... In chemistry, an oligomer consists of a finite number of monomer units (oligo is Greek for a few), in contrast to a polymer which, at least in principle, consists of an infinite number of monomers. ... Azadirachtin is a chemical compound belonging to the limonoids. ... Binomial name Azadirachta indica A.Juss. ... Artemisinin (IPA: ) is a drug used to treat multi-drug resistant strains of falciparum malaria. ... Binomial name Artemisia annua Artemisia annua is the official Latin name for a plant better known by names such as sweet sagewood, sweet wormwood, annual sagebrush, or Chinese wormwood. ... Tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, Δ9-THC, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), Δ¹-tetrahydrocannabinol (using an older numbering scheme), or dronabinol, is the main psychoactive substance found in a variety of plants; most abundantly so in the Cannabis plant. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Cannabis. ... In chemistry and biology, Steroids are a type of lipid, characterized by a carbon skeleton with four fused rings. ... Saponins are a class of glucosides found in plants. ... The glucosinolates are a class of organic compounds that contain sulfur, nitrogen and a group derived from glucose. ... In organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl group (-OH) attached to an aromatic hydrocarbon group. ... Resveratrol is a phytoalexin produced by several plants that is sold as a nutritional supplement. ... Phenazine Phenazine (C12H8N2 or C6H4N2C6H4), also called azophenylene, dibenzo-p-diazine, dibenzopyrazine, and acridizine, is the parent substance of many dyestuffs, such as the eurhodines, toluylene red, indulines and safranines. ...

• Polyketides:
  • Erythromycin
  • Discodermolide
• Fatty acid synthase products :
  • FR-900848
  • U-106305
  • phloroglucinols
• Nonribosomal peptides:
  • Vancomycin
  • Thiostrepton
  • Ramoplanin
  • Teicoplanin
  • Gramicidin
  • Bacitracin
• Hybrids of the above three:
  • Epothilone

Non-"small molecules" - DNA, RNA, ribosome, or polysaccharide "classical" biopolymers. Polyketides are secondary metabolites from bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. ... Erythromycin is a macrolide antibiotic which has an antimicrobial spectrum similar to or slightly wider than that of penicillin, and is often used for people who have an allergy to penicillins. ... (+)-Discodermolide is a novel polyketide natural product found to be a potent inhibitor of tumor cell growth. ... In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail (chain), which is either saturated or unsaturated. ... Phloroglucinol or benzene-1,3,5-triol is a process chemical widely used in the industrial synthesis of pharmaceuticals and high-energy chemicals (explosives). ... Nonribosomal peptides (NRP) are a class of secondary metabolites, usually produced by microorganisms like bacteria and fungi. ... Crystal structure of a short peptide L-Lys-D-Ala-D-Ala (bacterial cell wall precursor, in green) bound to vancomycin (blue) through hydrogen bonds. ... Teicoplanin is an antibiotic used in the prophylaxis and treatment of serious infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria. ... The discontinuous diamer is seen showing the antiparallel hydrogen bonding between the amid hydrogens and carbonyl oxygens. ... A tube of bacitracin ointment for eyes Bacitracin is a mixture of related cyclic polypeptides produced by organisms of the licheniformis group of Bacillus subtilis var Tracy. ... The epothilones are a new class of cytotoxic molecules, including epothilone A, epothilone B, and epothilone D, identified as potential chemotherapy drugs. ...

• Ribosomal peptides:
  • Microcin-J25

Figure 1: Ribosome structure indicating small subunit (A) and large subunit (B). ...

See also

Secondary metabolism Streptomycin, an important antibiotic drug produced by Streptomyces bacteria Secondary metabolism (also called special metabolism) is a term for pathways and products of metabolism that are not absolutely required for the survival of the organism. ...