Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T19:55:03.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nitro Compounds in Foreign Species of Astragalus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

M. C. Williams
M. C. Williams*
Affiliation:
U.S. Dep. Agric., Sci. Ed. Admin., Agric. Res., Poisonous Plant Res. Lab., Logan, UT 84321
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Leaflets of 1690 species of Old World and South American Astragalus collected from herbaria at Kew, England; Edinburgh, Scotland; Munich, Germany; and Vienna, Austria were analyzed qualitatively for toxic aliphatic nitro compounds. The catabolites of nitro compounds found in species of Astragalus (nitro-bearing), 3-nitro-1-propanol and 3-nitropropionic acid, are especially toxic to cattle and sheep. A total of 190 of 1624 (12%) Old World species, 30 of 66 (45%) South American species, and a single species of one Astragalus subgenus were positive for nitro compounds. Most Old World species that contained aliphatic nitro compounds were collected in the Middle East and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Nitro compounds were detected in specimens of eight species collected between 1822 and 1836. The nitro-bearing species were chemotaxonomically related and grouped within taxonomic sections. The presence of two or three nitro-bearing species within a section indicated that other species within the same section might also be nitro-bearing.

Keywords

Fabaceaepoisonous plants3-nitro-1-propanol3-nitropropionic acidchemotaxonomy
Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Science , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , May 1981 , pp. 261 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Barneby, R. C. 1964. Atlas of North American Astragalus . Memoirs of the New York Bot. Gard., Vol. 13. 1188 pp.Google Scholar
2. Cooke, A. R. 1955. The toxic constituent in Indigofera endecaphylla . Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 55:114–120.Google Scholar
3. Davis, A. M. 1972. Selenium accumulation in Astragalus species. Agron. J. 64:751–754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Deml, I. 1972. Revision der Sektionen Acantbophace Bunge und Aegacantha Bunge der Gattung Astragalus L. Boissiera 21. 235 pp.Google Scholar
5. Duncan, W. H., Piercy, P. L., and Starling, R. J. 1955. Toxicological studies of southeastern plants. I. Leguminosae. Econ. Bot. 9:243–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Gomez-Sosa, E. 1979. Las especies Sudamericanas del genero Astragalus (Leguminosae). 1. Las especies Patagonicas Argentinas. Darwiniana 22:313–376.Google Scholar
7. James, L. F., Hartley, W. J., Williams, M. C., and Van Kampen, K. R. 1980. Field and experimental studies in cattle and sheep poisoned by nitro-bearing Astragalus and other toxins. Am. J. Vet. Res. 41:377–382.Google Scholar
8. Komarov, V. L. 1946. Flora of the U.S.S.R., Vol. IX. Leguminosae: Astragalus. Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, Leningrad. 681 pp. Pub. by Israel Program for Scientific Translations Ltd., Jerusalem, 1965.Google Scholar
9. Rosenfeld, I. and Beath, O. A. 1964. Selenium: Geobotany, Biochemistry, Toxicity, and Nutrition. Academic Press, New York. 441 pp.Google Scholar
10. Stermitz, F. R. and Yost, G. S. 1978. Analysis and characterization of nitro compounds from Astragalus species. Pages 371–378 in Keeler, R. F., Van Kampen, K. F., and James, L. F., eds. Effects of Poisonous Plants on Livestock. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11. Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M., and Webb, D. A. 1968. Flora Europaea, Vol. 2. University Press, Cambridge. 455 pp.Google Scholar
12. Williams, M. C. 1980. Purposefully introduced plants that have become noxious or poisonous weeds. Weed Sci. 28:300–305.Google Scholar
13. Williams, M. C. 1980. Toxicological investigations on Astragalus hamosus and Astragalus sesameus . Aust. J. Exp. Agric. and Anim. Husb. 20:162–165.Google Scholar
14. Williams, M. C. and Barneby, R. C. 1977. The occurrence of nitro-toxins in North American Astragalus (Fabaceae.). Brittonia 29: 310–326.Google Scholar
15. Williams, M. C. and Barneby, R. C. 1977. The occurrence of nitro-toxins in Old World and South American Astragalus (Fabaceae.). Brittonia 29:327–331.Google Scholar
16. Williams, M. C. and Davis, A. M. 1981. Nitro compounds in introduced Astragalus species. J. Range Manage. (In press).Google Scholar
17. Williams, M. C. and James, L. F. 1978. Livestock poisoning from nitro-bearing Astragalus . Pages 379–389 in Keeler, R. F., Van Kampen, K. R., and James, L. F., eds. Effects of Poisonous Plants on Livestock. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
18. Williams, M. C., James, L. F., and Bleak, A. T. 1976. Toxicity of introduced nitro-containing Astragalus to sheep, cattle, and chicks. J. Range Manage. 29:30–33.Google Scholar
19. Williams, M. C., James, L. F., and Bond, B. O. 1979. Emory milkvetch (Astragalus emoryanus var. emoryanus) poisoning in chicks, sheep, and cattle. Am. J. Vet. Res. 40:403–406.Google Scholar
20. Williams, M. C. and Norris, F. A. 1969. Distribution of miserotoxin in varieties of Astragalus miser Dougl. ex Hook. Weed Sci. 17:236–238.Google Scholar
21. Williams, M. C., Yost, G. S., and Stermitz, F. R. 1977. Miserotoxin, a toxic compound in Astragalus michauxii . Phytochemistry 16:1438–1439.Google Scholar