plant
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
in the legume
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
(
Fabaceae
Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...
). It includes 166 species native to the tropical Americas, tropical Africa, and Madasgascar. The
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
are called lancepods due to their fruit resembling an ornate
lance
The English term lance is derived, via Middle English '' launce'' and Old French '' lance'', from the Latin '' lancea'', a generic term meaning a wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear">wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generi ...
tip or a few
bead
A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under 1 ...
s on a string.
''Cubé'' resin is produced from the roots of '' L. urucu'' and namely ' L. utilis'' (''cubé''). It contains enough of the toxic
rotenoid
Rotenoids are naturally occurring substances containing a cis-fused tetrahydrochromeno ,4-bhromene nucleus. Many have insecticidal and piscicidal activity, such as the prototypical member of the family, rotenone. Rotenoids are related to the is ...
s
rotenone
Rotenone is an odorless, colorless, crystalline isoflavone. It occurs naturally in the seeds and stems of several plants, such as the jicama vine, and in the roots of several other members of the Fabaceae. It was the first-described member of the ...
and
deguelin
Deguelin is a derivative of rotenone. Both are compounds classified as rotenoids of the flavonoid family and are naturally occurring insecticides. They can be produced by extraction from several plant species belonging to three genera of the leg ...
to be used as an
insecticide
Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, i ...
and
piscicide
A piscicide is a chemical substance which is poisonous to fish. The primary use for piscicides is to eliminate a dominant species of fish in a body of water, as the first step in attempting to populate the body of water with a different fish. They ...
. As these are naturally occurring compounds, they were formerly used in
organic farming
Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2024 on organic production and labelling of ...
. Since it is highly unselective and kills useful, as well as pest, animals, it is considered harmful to the environment today. Also, chronic exposure to rotenone and deguelin appears to increase the risk of
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
, even in
mammal
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
s, for which these compounds are less immediately toxic than for fish and insects. Deguelin might be useful in
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
therapy if it can be applied directly into
tumor
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
s, and ''Lonchocarpus'' root is used to a probably insignificant extent by indigenous peoples as an aid in fish stunning, e.g. by the
Nukak
The Nukak people (also Nukak-Maku people, Makú) live between the Guaviare River, Guaviare and Inírida River, Inírida rivers, in the depths of the tropical humid forest, on the fringe of the Amazon basin, in Guaviare Department, Republic of Co ...
who call it ''nuún''.
The bark of '' L. violaceus'' (''balché'' tree) is traditionally used by the
Yukatek Maya
Yucatec Maya ( ; referred to by its speakers as or ) is a Mayan language spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula, including part of northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic community of Yucatec Maya speakers in San Francisco, though m ...
version of the mildly intoxicating
mead
Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...
, ''
balché
''Balché'' is a mildly intoxicating beverage that was commonly consumed by the ancient Maya in what is now Mexico and upper Central America. Today, it is still common among the Maya. The drink is made from the bark of a leguminous tree, '' Lonch ...
'', which was held in the highest esteem in antiquity and considered sacred to the god of intoxication. It is still drunk today and was, after the
Spanish conquest of Yucatán
The Spanish conquest of Yucatán was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish Empire, Spanish ''conquistadores'' against the Mesoamerican chronology, Late Postclassic Maya civilization, Maya states and polities in the Yucatán Peninsula, a vast ...
alcoholic beverage
Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...
s imported by the Europeans. It is not quite clear if roots were also used to produce ''balché'', and to what extent toxic isoflavones are also present in ''L. violaceus''. The potency of ''balché'' may be increased by using honey produced from ''L. violaceus'' nectar foraged by the
Maya people
Maya () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived w ...
's traditional
stingless bee
Stingless bees (SB), sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees (from about 462 to 552 described species), comprising the Tribe (biology), tribe Meliponini (or subtribe Meliponina according to other aut ...
s.
Certain insects have evolved the ability to deal with ''Lonchocarpus'' toxins and feed on these plants. They include a possible new
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...
n
taxon
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...
in the
two-barred flasher
''Telegonus fulgerator'', the two-barred flasher, is a species of spread-wing skipper butterfly in the family Hesperiidae which may constitute a possible cryptic species complex. It ranges all over the Americas, from the southern United States ...
(''Astraptes fulgerator'')
cryptic species complex
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
which seems to have acquired this trait only quite recently in its evolutionary history and is known to be found on '' L. costaricensis'' and '' L. oliganthus''.
The
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
is ''
Lonchocarpus sericeus
''Lonchocarpus'' is a plant genus in the legume family (Fabaceae). It includes 166 species native to the tropical Americas, tropical Africa, and Madasgascar. The species are called lancepods due to their fruit resembling an ornate lance tip or a ...
Lonchocarpus chiricanus
''Lonchocarpus chiricanus'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. ...
''
* ''
Lonchocarpus minimiflorus
''Lonchocarpus minimiflorus'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest ...
''
* ''
Lonchocarpus molinae
''Lonchocarpus molinae'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest b ...
''
* ''
Lonchocarpus phaseolifolius
''Lonchocarpus phaseolifolius'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sover ...
Lonchocarpus pluvialis
''Lonchocarpus pluvialis'', commonly known as ''cuquí'' in the eastern Bolivian departments of Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz and Beni Department, the Beni to which it is endemic, is a species of Lonchocarpus, lancepod that typicall ...
Lonchocarpus salvadorensis
''Lonchocarpus salvadorensis'', the Sangre de Chucho, is a plant species in the genus ''Lonchocarpus''.
The rotenoids deguelin, rotenone
Rotenone is an odorless, colorless, crystalline isoflavone. It occurs naturally in the seeds and stems of ...
''
* ''
Lonchocarpus sanctuarii
''Lonchocarpus sanctuarii'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae
Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,Lonchocarpus santarosanus'' – ''chapelno blanco''
* ''
Lonchocarpus trifolius
''Lonchocarpus trifolius'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest ...
Lonchocarpus violaceus
''Lonchocarpus'' is a plant genus in the legume family (Fabaceae). It includes 166 species native to the tropical Americas, tropical Africa, and Madasgascar. The species are called lancepods due to their fruit resembling an ornate lance tip or a ...
''
* ''
Lonchocarpus yoroensis
''Lonchocarpus yoroensis'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central Am ...
''
Footnotes
References
* (2006): Problems with DNA barcodes for species delimitation: ‘ten species’ of ''Astraptes fulgerator'' reassessed (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). ''Systematics and Biodiversity'' 4(2): 127–132. PDF fulltext * (2004): Rotenone, deguelin, their metabolites, and the rat model of Parkinson's disease. ''
Chemical Research in Toxicology
A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combine ...
'' 17(11): 1540–1548. (HTML abstract)
* (2004): Ten species in one: DNA barcoding reveals cryptic species in the semitropical skipper butterfly ''Astraptes fulgerator''. ''
PNAS
''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of S ...
'' 101(41): 14812–14817. PDF fulltextSupporting Appendices * (1997): Cancer Chemopreventive Activity Mediated by Deguelin, a Naturally Occurring Rotenoid. ''
Cancer Research
Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure.
Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate ...