Nicotiana
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225861098
2008-07-15T19:11:48Z
Drm310
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Added [[Category:Solanaceae]]
{{Taxobox
| name = Tobacco
| image = Tabak 9290019.JPG
| image_caption = Flowering ''[[Nicotiana tabacum]]''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| subclassis = [[Asteridae]]
| unranked_ordo = [[Euasterids I]]
| ordo = [[Solanales]]
| familia = [[Solanaceae]]
| genus = '''''Nicotiana'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision =
Numerous, see text
}}
'''''Nicotiana''''' refers to a [[genus]] of [[herb]]s and [[shrub]]s of the [[nightshade]] [[family (biology)|family]] ([[Solanaceae]]) indigenous to [[North America|North]] and [[South America]], [[Australia]], south west [[Africa]] and the [[Oceania|South Pacific]]. Various ''Nicotiana'' [[species]], commonly referred to as '''tobacco plants''', are cultivated and grown to produce [[tobacco]]. Of all ''Nicotiana'' species, [[Cultivated Tobacco]] (''N. tabacum'') is the most widely planted and is grown worldwide for production of tobacco leaf for [[cigarette]]s. The genus is named in honor of [[Jean Nicot]], who in 1561 was the first to present tobacco to the French royal court.
Many plants contain [[nicotine]], a powerful [[neurotoxin]] that is particularly harmful to [[insect]]s. However, tobaccos contain a higher concentration of nicotine than most other plants, and indeed nicotine was named after the tobacco plant. In addition, unlike many other Solanaceae they do not contain [[tropane alkaloid]]s, which are often poisonous to humans and other animals. Interesting to note that nicotine and tropane alkaloids, e.g. [[atropine]] found in [[datura stramonium]], have exactly the opposite actions in the brain. While nicotine is an [[agonist]] of [[acetylcholine receptors]], atropine acts as an [[antagonist]] at the same receptors. Tobacco leaves and sometimes stems are commonly used as [[entheogen]]s and for pleasure. The leaves are processed into forms that can be smoked, chewed, or sniffed.
In many [[industrialized]] countries, nicotine is among the most significant [[Drug addiction|addictive substance]]s and a cause for medical concern; see [[Health effects of tobacco smoking]] and [[Smokeless tobacco#Health issues]] for details. By contrast, in preindustrial societies, tobacco smoking was almost invariably considered a sacred or ritual activity and tightly regulated. Smoking a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] "[[peace pipe]]" would invariably be preceded by paying due homage to the relevant deities and spirits and sacrificing some of the tobacco. Other cultures such as the [[Aztecs]], while smoking tobacco more casually, were nonetheless aware of the fact that it is a potent and addictive drug. See also [[Religious views on smoking]]. Native peoples also used tobacco in other ways as an entheogen (e.g. as an additive to [[ayahuasca]]), and occasionally in [[ethnoveterinary medicine]], e.g. to rid [[livestock]] of [[parasite]]s.
==Cultivation==
[[Image:Tobacco.jpg|thumb|left|Tobacco plantation]]
Tobacco plants were long grown and/or harvested by local peoples. The [[Takelma]] for example utilized ''[[Nicotiana bigelovii|N. bigelovii]]'', and tobacco was very important to the [[Aztec]]s who considered it one of the [[Aztec entheogenic complex|sacred herbs]] of [[Xochipilli]], the "Flower Prince" (also known as ''Macuilxochitl'', "Five Flowers"), a deity of [[agriculture]] and especially [[psychoactive]] plants. Indeed, the origins of [[Cultivated Tobacco]] (''N. tabacum'') are obscure; it is not known from the wild and appears to be a [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] between [[Woodland Tobacco]] (''N. sylvestris''), ''[[Nicotiana tomentosiformis|N. tomentosiformis]]'' and another species (perhaps ''[[Nicotiana otophora|N. otophora]]''), deliberately selected by humans a long time ago.<ref>Ren & Timko (2001)</ref>
In modern tobacco farming, ''Nicotiana'' [[seed]]s are scattered onto the surface of the [[soil]], as their [[germination]] is activated by light. In colonial [[Virginia]], seedbeds were fertilized with wood ash or animal [[manure]] (frequently powdered [[horse]] manure). Seedbeds were then covered with branches to protect the young plants from frost [[damage]]. These plants were left to grow until around April. Today, in the [[United States]], unlike other countries, ''Nicotiana'' is often fertilized with the mineral [[apatite]] in order to partially starve the plant for [[nitrogen]], which changes the taste of the tobacco.
After the plants have reached a certain height, they are transplanted into fields. This was originally done by making a relatively large hole in the tilled earth with a tobacco peg, then placing the small plant in the hole. Various mechanical tobacco planters were invented throughout the late 19th and early 20th century to automate this process, making a hole, fertilizing it, and guiding a plant into the hole with one motion.
Many species of ''Nicotiana'' are also grown as [[ornamental plant]]s. They are popular [[vespertine (biology)|vespertine]]s, their sweet-smelling flowers opening in the evening to be visited by [[hawkmoth]]s and other [[pollinator]]s. Several tobacco plants have been used as [[model organism]]s in [[genetics]]. [[Tobacco BY-2 cells]], derived from ''N. tabacum'' [[cultivar]] 'Bright Yellow-2', are among the most important research tools in plant [[cytology]]. Tobacco has played a pioneering role in [[Callus (cell biology)|callus]] culture research and the elucidation of the mechanism by which [[kinetin]] works, laying the groundwork for modern agricultural [[biotechnology]].
===Ecology, pests and diseases===
{{main|List of tobacco diseases}}
[[Image:TMV.jpg|thumb|right|[[Tobacco mosaic virus]] ([[electron micrograph]])]]
[[Image:Manduca sexta female sjh.JPG|thumb|right|Female ''[[Manduca sexta]]'']]
Despite containing enough nicotine and/or other compounds such as [[germacrene]] and [[anabasine]] and other [[piperidine]] alkaloids (varying between species) to deter most [[herbivore]]s,<ref>Panter ''et al.'' (1990)</ref> a number of such animals have [[evolve]]d the ability to feed on ''Nicotiana'' species without being harmed. Nonetheless, tobacco is unpalatable to many species and therefore some tobacco plants (chiefly [[Tree Tobacco]], ''N. glauca'') have become established as [[invasive weed]]s in some places.
In the nineteenth century, young tobacco plantings came under increasing attack from flea [[beetle]]s (''[[Epitrix cucumeris]]'' and/or ''[[Epitrix pubescens]]''), causing destruction of half the United States tobacco crop in 1876. In the years afterward, many experiments were attempted and discussed to control the flea beetle. By 1880 it was discovered that replacing the branches with a frame covered by thin fabric would effectively protect plants from the beetle. This practice spread until it became ubiquitous in the 1890s.
[[Lepidoptera]] whose [[caterpillar]]s feed on ''Nicotiana'' include:
* [[Dark Sword-grass]] or Black cutworm, ''Agrotis ipsilon''
* [[Turnip Moth]], ''Agrotis segetum''
* [[Mouse Moth]], ''Amphipyra tragopoginis''
* [[The Nutmeg]], ''Discestra trifolii''
* ''[[Endoclita excrescens]]''
* [[Blackburn's Sphinx Moth]], ''Manduca blackburni''
* [[Tobacco Hornworm]], ''Manduca sexta''
* [[Cabbage Moth]], ''Mamestra brassicae''
* [[Angle Shades]], ''Phlogophora meticulosa''
* [[Setaceous Hebrew Character]], ''Xestia c-nigrum''
These are mainly [[Noctuidae]] and some [[Sphingidae]].
==Selected species<ref name = itis1999>ITIS (1999)</ref>==
[[Image:Nicotiana langsdorfii 20070810-1226-74.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Nicotiana langsdorffii]]'']]
[[Image:Nicotiana obtusifolia flower.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Nicotiana obtusifolia]]'']]
[[Image:Nicotinana alata0.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Nicotiana × sanderae]]'' ornamental cultivar]]
* ''[[Nicotiana acuminata]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana africana]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana alata]]'' – Winged Tobacco, Jasmine Tobacco, ''tanbaku'' ([[Persian language|Persian]])
* ''[[Nicotiana attenuata]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana benthamiana]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana bigelovii]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana clevelandii]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana debneyi]]''{{Verify source|date=November 2007}}
* ''[[Nicotiana × digluta]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana excelsior]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana exigua]]''{{Verify source|date=November 2007}}
* ''[[Nicotiana forgetiana]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana glauca]]'' – Tree Tobacco, Brazilian Tree Tobacco, Shrub Tobacco, Mustard Tree
* ''[[Nicotiana glutinosa]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana kawakamii]]''{{Verify source|date=November 2007}}
* ''[[Nicotiana knightiana]]''{{Verify source|date=November 2007}}
* ''[[Nicotiana langsdorffii]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana longiflora]]'' – Longflower Tobacco
* ''[[Nicotiana obtusifolia]]'' (= ''N. trigonophylla''<ref name = itis1999 />) – Desert Tobacco, ''punche'', ''"[[tabaquillo]]"''
* ''[[Nicotiana otophora]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana paniculata]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana persica]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana plumbagifolia]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana quadrivalvis]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana repanda]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana rustica]]'' – Mapacho
* ''[[Nicotiana × sanderae]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana stocktonii]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana suaveolens]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana sylvestris]]'' – Woodland Tobacco
* ''[[Nicotiana tabacum]]'' – Cultivated Tobacco, Common Tobacco (a cultivated hybrid - properly ''Nicotiana × tabacum'')
* ''[[Nicotiana tomentosa]]''
* ''[[Nicotiana tomentosiformis]]''
==See also==
* [[Agroinfiltration]]
* [[Edgar Anderson]]
* [[Jamestown, Virginia]]
* [[Jean Nicot]]
* [[John Rolfe]]
* [[List of plants poisonous to equines]]
* [[Nancy Tyson Burbidge]]
* [[Pectinesterase]]
* [[Turkish tobacco]]
* [[Indian tobacco]]
==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}
==References==
{{commonscat}}
* {{aut|[[Integrated Taxonomic Information System]] (ITIS)}} (1999): [http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=30562 ''Nicotiana'']. Retrieved 2007-NOV-20.
* {{aut|Panter, K.E.; Keeler, R.F.; Bunch, T.D. & Callan, R.J.}} (1990): Congenital skeletal malformations and cleft palate induced in goats by ingestion of ''Lupinus, Conium and Nicotiana'' species. ''Toxicon'' '''28'''(12): 1377-1385. <small>PMID 2089736</small> (HTML abstract)
* {{aut|Ren, Nan & Timko, Michael P.}} (2001): AFLP analysis of genetic polymorphism and evolutionary relationships among cultivated and wild ''Nicotiana'' species. ''[[Genome]]'' '''44'''(4): 559-571. <small>{{doi|10.1139/gen-44-4-559}}</small> [http://article.pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/ppv/RPViewDoc?issn=0831-2796&volume=44&issue=4&startPage=559 PDF fulltext]
[[Category:Nicotiana|*]]
[[Category:Tobacco]]
[[Category:Entheogens]]
[[Category:Plants named after people]]
[[Category:Solanaceae]]
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