Allelochemicals targeting the phospholipid bilayer and the proteins of biological membranes

Diverse allelochemicals interfere with the function of biological membranes. Among allelochemicals, those which are highly hydrophobic dissolve in the membrane bilayer, disordering the hydrocarbon tails of the phospholipids and increasing permeability. Hydrophobic allelochemicals are derived from molecules such as fatty acids, polyacetylenes, terpenes and phenols. In addition, the highly specialized proteins immersed in membranes are frequently the specific target of a given allelochemical. Thus, there are allelochemicals which interfere with receptors, primary transporters or secondary transporters. These biomolecules are extremely useful in protein structure-function studies. Here, the allelochemical interactions with representative proteins within each group are reviewed and some of the consequences of this interaction for the whole organism are analyzed. As there are a large number of allelopathic molecules, it is not possible to analyze every compound, but instead, the effects on specific proteins were illustrated.