Abstract
Primitive angiosperms may owe their woody habit to a gymnosperm-type ancestry. Gymnosperms, in which, significantly, alkaloids are rare, possess the metabolic pathway sugar → shikimic acid → chorismic acid → phenylalanine → cinnamic acid → cinnamyl alcohol (Fig. 5.1), and derive substantial quantities of lignins from cinnamyl alcohols and condensed tannins from cinnamic acids. Both lignins and tannins function as general physical and chemical defences for plants.
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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Gottlieb, O.R. (1982). Evolution of Allelochemics in Angiospermae. In: Micromolecular Evolution, Systematics and Ecology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68641-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68641-2_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-11655-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-68641-2
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