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Cannabis biochemistry

BullDogUK

Member
Interesting read :D

Lots of metal ions play a role in cellular biochemistry. Probably the best known of these is Iron in the transport of oxygen however we see most metals performing some sort of role in metabolism. Magnesium is required to make ATP biologically active, i.e. without a bound Mg2+ ion, ATP cannot be reduced to ADP, which is the basic mechanism of energy transfer in a cell.

Mg2+ can also block calcium channels found in neurons, close to a synapse. An influx of calcium is required to initiate the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft so I'd imagine an Mg2+ deficiency would lead to a slight hyperactivity.
 

BullDogUK

Member
Howdy everyone, I will be doing a post on plant epigenetics and cloning in a few days however I stumbled across an article with some useful information so thought I'd get it written down.

The article is The Inheritance of Chemical Phenotype in Cannabis sativa L., 2002, by Meijer et al.

http://www.genetics.org/content/163/1/335.full.pdf



So here we have the current model of THC synthesis:
1 = geranylpyrophosphate
2 = olivetolic acid
3 = CBG
4 = CBC
5 = THC
6 = CBD
I = geranylpyrophosphate:eek:livetolate geranyltransferase (GOT)
II = CBC synthase
III = THC synthase
IV = CBD synthase

The findings of this study suggest that THC/CBD ratios are determined by a single allele locus, termed B in the study, with the Bd and Br alleles determining CBD and THC synthesis respectively. Progeny studies showed Bd/Bd homozygous produced predominantly CBD whilst Bt/Bt lead to dominant THC synthesis. The dominant cannabinoid typically constituted 95% of the total cannabinoid content of the plant. These alleles are codominant meaning they are both expressed simultaneously.
 
W

willyweed

hey bulldoguk you got a mention in one of the ic mag news articles! nice one
 

BullDogUK

Member
Thanks for the heads up Willy, that's pretty cool :3

Though after reading the 'Astral Weed' article I'm really hoping they put some sciencey stuffs in the next edition hahaha.
 

mexcurandero420

See the world through a puff of smoke
Veteran
Lots of metal ions play a role in cellular biochemistry.

Yep like manganese, iron, copper, but magnesium is crucial to more than 300 enzyme-driven biochemical reactions occurring in the body on a near constant basis.

Keep on growing :)
 

Weird

3rd-Eye Jedi
Veteran
Oh man I don't even want to think about someone doing that :yoinks: I don't think you'd take another hit/breath again

Having done a bit of thinking I can picture a scenario of someone inhaling microscopic vodka droplets in this vodka-bong hit which may aid in dissolving cannabinoids in alveolar surfactant but still... Defiantly not something I'd encourage haha

lol that post was made in a different thread and was duplicated here

weird no a whole other level.

nice thread btw sorry some random post of mine got thrown in here
 

Cannabologist

Active member
Veteran
]
Perhaps the most bizarre feature of this study was the investigation of cannabinoid production in these plants. We see that the typical 'tropical'/'non-tropical' (Sativa/Indica?) categories have no real holding over the cannabinoid production rates. What's really noticeable is just how variable these rates are and how little bearing they have on whether a plant is growing within a 'natural' environment for that particular landrace. This suggests to me that cannabinoid production is likely related to a large number of genes which may be sensitive to environmental factors. The tripling in THC production of Jamaican landraces grown in cool conditions compared to warm conditions shows that perhaps exposure to stress could trigger greater THC synthesis though the high levels of THC in the Nepalese landrace in it's 'natural' setting sort of refutes this.

Anyways hope y'all enjoyed this and thanks for reading :thank you:

- This is what Tom Hill has talked about in breeding plants that will be stable and reproduce their phenotypes within a wide range of environments, not just one particular environment. As we see with Jamaican there is much variability in this regard, as well as Nepalese and Illinois hemp, BUT the Panamanian has one of these traits we see we want in a plant that could be of high breeding value, ie. a high, stable, reproducible THC content even in a varying environment (warm or cool).

- As I point, this holds true for breeding in general, but a plant that can show environmental variability can be highly valuable to a grower who is intelligent about how to use such a thing, ie. a plant of high value, say high medicinal value, that under certain stresses produces higher quantities of certain cannabinoids than others (much like a study I posted study that show a plant may have some variance in THC or CBD content if grown under all 'blue' or 'yellow' MH or HID lighting). This can reduce a grower's need to have many strains, instead manipulating the environment for one strain they know well to produce the differing phytochemical composition they want. This variance due to stress may not be great, but may be enough to be what we want (ie. like how many growers now are looking for ways to up CBD content in their plants).

“You'd expect more photosynthesis to equal more cannabinoid synthesis yet the data they gathered suggest that cannabinoid synthesis was higher in the plants grown in a 'cool' climate.”

- Numerous studies show environmental stress such as cold temperatures can induce or reduce cannabinoid production.


“so I suppose the epigenetics are probably far less stable - I guess giving rise to different morphologies in different branches as you've seen yourself”

- At sites of major growth/cell division such as nodes, this constant new cell growth provides a new environmental matrix for the plant to work within, so it may possibly find itself better adapted to survival in whatever environment it happens to experience at the moment. It is akin to how we see in tissue culture that plants are taken to a pre-state of disease, even viral damage, and can be brought back to health virus free as these cells/DNA have not undergone any epigenetic changes, yet.
 

BullDogUK

Member
So I've been thinking that an ideal garden for me would involve a single plot of medium with multiple plants, possibly including other species besides cannabis. It seems that the biota of the soil, and interactions between root-bound microorganisms can play an important role in plant development and I'd love to investigate it.

I was also thinking, as terpenes are being shown to play a role in cannabinoid modulation, has anyone ever looked into complimentary herbs/non-cannabis terpenes? I'd love to maybe grow some lavendar or salvia to smoke alongside my bud :tiphat:
 

DemonPigeon

Member
Veteran
I've heard nettles are a good companion plant for Cannabis, think I read it in Marijuana Botany?

Not an ideal plant because of the stinging aspect :p but apparently nettles can be used for tea and wine so there might be other benefits to growing them.

Not sure about terpenes though...

Mycorhiza obviously play an important role in plant communities.
 

BullDogUK

Member
Well the terps are a secondary; I was just thinking of fillers that might be nice to smoke alongside weed that I can use instead of tobacco :D
 
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