Why does cannabis produce resin?

Good points, foomar. Even if I tried controlled pollination on sugar leaves, there's little to no guarantee I wouldn't pollinate the calyx. Any potential seed wouldn't necessarily be definitive.

Then why does the unfertilized cannabis plant seem to produce the oil differential (to it's seeded counterpart) as opposed to a plethora of pistils?

I'm not challenging other opinions, just curious.

Hi Disco , been discussing this question for over thirty years , the more exotic theories have faded away but still no concensus yet it seems.

As to why salvia divinorum places similar structures also containing a psychoactive compound on the leaf surface , is an equally interesting and related debate.

as a plant biologist these are my thoughts (and yea, i have a degree in the field of Plant Biology)

-the high presence of glandular trichomes is mostly a human interaction derived construct of the plants existence.
we have no idea how long people have been using cannabis, and how long humans have been breeding it. it is thought that perhaps there are no more truly wild type cannabis plants present in any environment because of this heavy human influence. some believe that cannabis was one of the first domesticated crops, due it its wide number of uses (food, textile, medicine, drug, etc. etc.). what people think today as wild cannabis is really just the plant reverting to wild type forms after escaping human intervention and once again being subject to the evolutionary pressures of the environments.
my support for this theory is looking at what human interaction with other plants has done, and one of my favorite examples is the plant Brassica oleracea, which gives us, kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kholrabi, brussel sprouts among others. These are all the same species of plant, but human breeding has amplififed and concentrated on certain features of the parent plant, the wild cabbage.

-uv theory
this one i have a lot harder time accepting. i think that perhaps the fact that THC/cannabinoids can absorb UV is a coincidence, and nothing more. if it were used as sunblock, the presence of glandular trichomes on the plants would be much much higher, and it would not be concentrated just on the flowers, and the resin production would not begin when the daylight weens in intensity (as summer moves to fall). also. the seed is already protected by a calyx from the sunlight, and a seedcoat. UV will not be damaging the seed.

-other defenses
however, as a protective measure against birds, etc. who LOVE cannabis seed, this is a possibility as anyone who has even tried to eat a fresh ripe cannabis flower will realize just how much it will gum up your teeth and mouth, the same goes for insects, trichomes help prevent herbivory
but the plant also produces cystoliths within the leaves and flowers upon flower production which is a different defense against herbivory

and pollen, its not for pollen. pollen must land on the pistil, not on a trichome. pollen probably wont germinate if it lands on trichomes, and even if the pollen started to grow its pollen tube on the trichome, it probably wont make it to the pistil to pollinate the egg

-one other role for trichomes in general that i accept is related to moisture retention.
trichomes around stomata help to create microclimates around the stomata where humidity is raised and reduces the amount of transpiration that occurs in the pant and therefore the plant would require less water in perhaps what is a semi-arid environment (the mid east, central asia where cannabis is though to have originated from)

-cannabinoid as plant hormone
another use for cannabinoids in the plant is to induce apoptosis in the leaf tissues. cannabinoids are pumped out of trichomes into the leaf tissues to induce leaf senescence (leaf death/leaf drop), but what controls this factor is yet unknown (perhaps water stress, maturation [nutrients from leaves go to producing flower/seed]. amoung other things

and so we can see how some of these functions can relate to the ancestral, wild type cannabis (trichomes have always been present on the plant, and so they are a natural defense mechanism and help control transpiration in the plant along with being a hormone) but the level of trichomes and resin that we see today is a human artifact imo

you can even look at hemp, and some hemp will be 10-15% CBD concentrations. thats some fuckin bomb hemp, if you want CBD.

and a little off topic but in regards to the pollinations.....
plants predate the existence of animals/insects on the earth. the first land plants, mosses, ferns, etc. all reproduce in the water, their gametes require water as a mode of pollination. then came stuff like gymnosperms, which are wind pollinated (think of spring and early summer, pine trees dump SHITLOADS of pollen into the wind, lakes in the northern regions get covered in the yellow pollen) then arose angiosperms, the flowering plants, after insects and other vehicles for pollination had arisen. so taking the clade of angiosperms and comparing it to the ancestral plants, insect/animal pollination is a derived trait. however, not all angiosperms are insect/animal pollinated. some families/orders of angiosperms may have gained wind pollination, or perhaps never evolved insect/animal pollination in the first place. and so lookin within the angiosperm clade we find that insect/animal pollination may be the ancestral trait and wind pollination becomes a derived trait.
sometimes insect pollination is there because of a plants desire to outbreed itself, and not inbreed. cannabis doesnt usuaully have this problem since its monoecious (usually) and therefore it must outbreed because you require two individuals, a male and a female, to produce progeny. but as we know from the hermaphrodite plants that its also self-fertile but again that is not necessarily a normal occurrence.


dont get me started on salvia, i think i will have to end up doin my PhD thesis on that plant.....

If it could've evolved for protection against insects than wouldnt it be a viable option that it has created the resin to help spread its seed? Just as fruit is meant to be eaten Cannabis can be the same way. Maybe it was meant to be broken up at the end of its season and the trichomes can stick to passing by animals to open up the ovule, hence dropping seeds..

I believe the insect aspect is a big one though. I've seen a carnivorous plant use similar styled trichomes to gather its meal and get them stuck.

Note: Sorry i didnt feel like reading six pages of this, so if these were already mentioned i'm sorry. This has always been my opinion...

Yes you do need get to get a lot of genes just right to optimize Resin/Cannabinoid/Terpenoid production, That was my point.

I don't think Cannabis has to have a reason to produce resin, rather man has chosen to work with Cannabis because it does have interesting resin, and man has endeavored to increase the interesting parts of the plant, be it fiber, seeds, or resin.
If you look at tomatoes, tobacco, mint, trees, and many other plants that produce resin, I bet you could increase the amounts of resin easy in the plants that have not yet been selected by man to increase resin.
Regardless if Cannabis produces resin to protect itself from enemies or the environment, or to use as an attractant or means to spread seeds, the resin in Cannabis is unique in the way it produces Cannabinoids that affects people, both medically and recreationally.
I have doubts about many of the reasons that people have posted,
but it does not matter, as my real interest is the how more then the why...

-SamS

VerdantGreen said:

thanks for the paper sam - am i undesrtanding it right? - there are at least 1000 genes thought to be responsible for the steps needed to produce THC. thats a whole lot of genes.

sam so you have any ideas/knowledge R.E. the reason for resin production? - would love to hear your take on it

VG

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yes, the why is also a fascinating subject, as is the evolution of cannabinoid receptors in the animal kingdom, going right back to sea squirts!
http://www.springerlink.com/content/h870255v8x26836g/

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2005.01028.x/full

i do think there must have been one or more advantages of resin to the plant that were naturally selected for. those advantages may have changed as cannabis evolved, even become less important, adaptability is a great advantage to any living thing.
i studied geology at university, which gives a realistic perspective as to how short a time humans have been around for in the great scheme of evolution

cheers

VG

This just popped up here
From BT - Factors Affecting Hop Production, Quality, and Brewer Preference

Seeded vs. Seedless hops: Most hops around the world are propagated by cuttings, are grown in the absence of male plants, and therefore are seedless.

Growers would love to plant 2-4 male plants per acre, which would increase yields by as much as 25% because pollination stimulates the growth of the cone (Figure 1) and adds weight in the form of seeds.

The seed coat, or perianth, is maternal tissue, and it also develops resin glands identical to those found on the bracteoles of the cones.

Thus, the total soft-resin production of seeded hops on a per-acre basis is somewhat higher than that of seedless hops because of both the larger cone size and additional lupulin glands on the seed coat.

The relative alpha-acids content expressed as a percentage of weight, however, is slightly lower in seeded than in seedless hops because of the dilutive effect of larger cone size and higher yields

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1000s of genes?
lol no way
to get to the monoterpene geranyl pryrophosphate (GPP) you start with basic precursors used in a wide variety of other pathways, so i dont know, you could count those genes, but they are not specific to the cannabinoid pathway, but you get an isoprene (IPP) unit from an isoprene synthase and then you get GPP by adding two IPPs together, with an isoprene transferase. to get to the other major precusor, olivetol, you need to start with an aromatic amino acid, phenylalanine or tyrosine. once again, these are not unique to the pathway, should they be counted?
edit: originally i was under the impression that olivetol was produced from amino acids but it seems rahter it is produced by a polyketide synthase which has not yet been identified
then you just need CBG synthase which catalyzes the reaction between GPP and olivetol to yeild cannabigerolic acid (CBG). then you just have THCa synthase or CBD synthase
so yea, its not that many specific genes, but total, yea you need a shitload of genes/enzymes to make the common products like isoprenes and aromatic amino acids

there was already a group in japan that, once THCa synthase was identified, they expressed it in tobacco and fed the tobacco CBG and guess what, the tobacco made THC!

I was referring to all the genes from start to finish, quantity and quality, for all the Cannabinoids and Terpenoids. If they are unique and specific to Cannabis or not makes no difference, they are still needed aren't they?
BTW Dr Shoyama the Japanese researcher that did the THCa synthase work is an old friend.
Here is an interview from almost 15 years ago:
http://www.druglibrary.org/olsen/hemp/iha/jiha4211.html
-SamS

Cannabis is not the only plant to create trichomes. It is a plant defensive mechanism. It is there for a variety of reasons. It helps with insects, pathogens, UV, drought and heat stress. There are several ways to activate the plants SAR system whether chemical or other to increase its defensive oil production. This is why metal halide (which puts out uv) is known to increase oils but MH should be used only as supplemental in flower.

ok dood if you want to play it like that you might as well say that all 30,000+ (guesstimate at the # of genes in cannabis) are required because thats all the genes necessary to make a functional cannabis plant which is the only thing known to naturally produce cannabinoids. and if you want to count every enzyme/gene in the glycolysis pathway in order to get to acetyl-coa to start mevalonate pathway by which the terepenes are created fine but like i said, all other plants already have these, i wouldnt necessary count those enzymes/genes as part of the specific cannbinoid pathway since those are primary functions and cannabinoids are secondary metabolites but w/e thats just how i look at it, its less complicated!


and yea that researcher is a cool guy, theyve done a lot of work on it. I took classes with both Dr. David Marks and Dr. George Weiblen who were also part of identifying THCa synthase!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2736886/?tool=pmcentrez

Posted by sam seems to state that over 1000 genes are involved pretty clearly right in the abstract. Am I misreading that?

Sam_Skunkman said:

but it does not matter, as my real interest is the how more then the why...

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the closest we can get to answering why, would be something like what has already been said, like 'to get us high' etc...

the how is not as fun to answer though, imo. all it takes to answer how it produces resin is to study the bio-chemical mechanisms of the plant and you will have a pretty good idea on the how...

the why yields for way more 'speculum'; the how only leaves us with a sense that we know more about the plant, but the how in the end is useless, because the plant itself has already achieved its "technological" prime if you will, without us exactly knowing the 'how' nor the 'why'.

Shultes and Hoffam were surely right in agreeing that maybe the best suited term for classification of these special plants was 'plants of the gods'... but personally, i prefer it in the singular, plants of the god.

peace

I do find speculating on the whys interesting a bit,,,,
But to me it is the hows that are really important, from the discovery of THC in 1964, to CB1&2 receptors, to Anandamide, to understanding the bio-synthesis of the Cannabinoids, as well as fully understanding the inheritance of the Cannabinoids and Terpenoids, and how the plant produces different types of resin, why some have such different characteristics. To fully understanding the subjective effects of the Cannabinoids/Terpenoids as single compounds and as synergistic blends where the whole is much more then just the individual compounds, both recreationally and medically. I love studying Cannabis, and I doubt we will ever run out of "how's" that need to be answered, another reason I love Cannabis, I know I will always have questions that need to be answered. I could think of nothing more boring then knowing the answers to every question about anything, it is the exploration that I find the most exciting.
That said "whys" always lead to trying to prove or disprove "how" the why is correct.
-SamS

Here's a little link from the wine industry side thats user friendly & has a pretty good list of terpenes & terpenoids....even Skunk .
(1-Dimethylethanethiol= Skunk)


Aromas & Flavours
http://www.wine-pages.com/guests/tom/taste6.htm

TERPENES
Also called terpenoids. Isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) is the five-carbon isoprenic unit from which all terpenes are built Thus they are all multiples of five units (5, 10, 15, 20 etc) and each group is named after its number of carbons: hemiterpenes (5), monoterpenes (10), sesquiterpenes (15) and so on up to caratenoids (40), after which they are lumped together as polyisoprenoids.


Although terpenes have been found in most grape varieties, it is the higher concentration of these compounds found in varieties such as Gewürztraminer, Muscat, Riesling and various German crosses that makes them so aromatic. There are more than 400 naturally occurring terpene compounds in the plant world, but only about 40 have been found in grapes or wine and relatively few of these are important components of aroma. For example, the characteristic aroma of Muscat, the most terpene-laden grape variety, is due to a combination of just three terpenoid alcohols: geraniol, linaloöl and nerol, and of these geraniol is considered most important. All but one of the most important terpenoid compounds for wine aromas are montoterpenes:


Simple Hydrocarbons
Limonene Used by the fragrance industry, limonene is one of the basic elements of aroma in bergamot and both orange oil and lemon oil, but is closer to orange than lemon. Can also be very resinous.
Myrcene The most herbal-resinous of simple hydrocarbon wine terpenes, myrcene is found in star-anise, coriander, hop, ginger, cinnamon,nutmeg, cardamom, bay leaves, basil, rosemary, sage, peppermint, spearmint, bell pepper, black pepper and grapefruit.

Terpenoid Alcohols
These are the most commonly found terpene compounds in wine and are present in increasing quantities in grapes as they ripen.


Citronellol Found in garden rose, geranium, ginger, black pepper, basil, peppermint and cardamom. Also plays a supporting role to citronellal in the aroma of Lemon Eucalyptus.


Eugenol The most herbal aroma of all terpenoid alcohols, eugenol is found in bay leaves, cloves and allspice.


Farnesol Whilst all the other terpene compounds important to grape and winearoma are monoterpene compounds, farnesol is a sesquiterpene alcohol (i.e., 15 carbon atoms). Farnesol is found in Linden Oil andis a constituent of garden rose aroma.

Geraniol Found in nutmeg, ginger, basil, rosemary, sage, cardamom and grapefruit, geraniol is one of the three terpene compounds principally responsible for Muscat aroma.


Hotrienol Has the aroma of Linden or Lime Tree, but levels higher than 30 ug/lindicate premature ageing, probably due to poor storage conditions.


Linaloöl Also spelt linalol, it is found in lavender, bergamot, jasmine, basil, rosemary, sage, star-anise, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, coriander, cardamom, ginger, black pepper and mandarin. This is one of the three terpene compounds principally responsible for Muscat aroma.


Nerol Found in orange blossom, ginger, basil, cardamom, mint and mandarin, nerol is one of the three terpene compounds principally responsible for the Muscat aroma.


Terpenoid Aldehydes


Citronellal Found in ginger, black pepper, geranium and peppermint, citronellal is however overwhelmingly lemony-resinous in character, representing a minimum of 82% of Lemon Eucalyptus Oil.


Geranial Found in cinammon, clove, ginger, basil and peppermint.


Terpenoids Acids
Geranic acid Found in cardamom and peppermint.

Terpenoid Esters
Geranyl acetate Found in lemongrass, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon, peppermint and, of course, geranium. Linalyl acetate Found in lavender, bergamot, jasmine, cinnamon, cardamom, bell pepper, basil, rosemary, sage and peppermint.

Terpenoid Oxides
Rose oxide Found in Bulgarian rose, but can also be green, geranium-like.



http://www.wine-pages.com/guests/tom/taste6.htm

The plant does not care if it has 90 Cannabinoids or zero. It is man that has taken Cannabis and developed all of the high THC varieties, or Cannabis varieties with the highest fiber content. By understanding the how in each case it allows man to focus his work on the most productive and quickest ways to achieve the goal.
Speculation on whys are ok fun, but it is the hows that that change the world. From sinsemilla to clones, artificial lights, to all female seeds, it is the how.... and it is fun to discover the hows....
-SamS

bombadil.360 said:

the closest we can get to answering why, would be something like what has already been said, like 'to get us high' etc...

the how is not as fun to answer though, imo. all it takes to answer how it produces resin is to study the bio-chemical mechanisms of the plant and you will have a pretty good idea on the how...

the why yields for way more 'speculum'; the how only leaves us with a sense that we know more about the plant, but the how in the end is useless, because the plant itself has already achieved its "technological" prime if you will, without us exactly knowing the 'how' nor the 'why'.

Shultes and Hoffam were surely right in agreeing that maybe the best suited term for classification of these special plants was 'plants of the gods'... but personally, i prefer it in the singular, plants of the god.

peace

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VerdantGreen said:

some good replies guys, i still need to reed the reference, but as for animal/insect protection, if that were true why does every animal/insect from miles around queue up to have a munch on the plants ???

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cause when VG grows them they are just so sweet.

llewop said:

Cannabis actually has two kinds of trichomes, glandular and non-glandular. The non-glandular trichomes are the really small hairs all over the plant, they often make the stem of a young plant look sort of white. These hairs are modified epidermal cells that restrict water loss from the plants stomatal pores, playing a key role in regulating the plants internal temperature.

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Cystolith hairs? You'll love this cite

http://www.biology-online.org/artic...nical_contributions/drug_enforcement_dna.html

Drug enforcement is taking advantage of new plant molecular biology techniques, too. Often in drug seizures, identification of the seized substance is a problem, especially if the plant material is fragmented and dried. A variety of methods are currently employed to identify Cannabis sativa L (marijuana). Marijuana can be identified by classical botanical characterization, especially if the type of cystolith hairs present on the leaves are used. However...

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verdantgreen said:

cannabis seeds have a tough opaque coating so i fail to see the need for the resin to protect the seeds. if DNA needed to be preserved we would see resin on male pollen sacs yet this is quite a rare trait afaik.

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try eating the seeds in the flowers, it's nearly impossible. male pollen sacks are short lived and last long enough to skeet skeet, that happens quickly (same problem myself, lol). Females need time to grow the seeds. Different game altogether.

Try eating a bud, then kief a bud and try to eat that. The kief'd bud is easier to eat. Little home science experiment for ya IC.

THC is only produced in resin glands.

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Sigh, you are incorrect. Didn't we just cover this on one of these threads?...

Sam Skunkman said:

Regardless if Cannabis produces resin to protect itself from enemies or the environment, or to use as an attractant or means to spread seeds, the resin in Cannabis is unique in the way it produces Cannabinoids that affects people, both medically and recreationally.
I have doubts about many of the reasons that people have posted,
but it does not matter, as my real interest is the how more then the why..-SamS

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But Sam, the whole point of the thread was "why?". Sometimes we get all high and wonder

Thomkal Vwalaa said:

Sigh, you are incorrect. Didn't we just cover this on one of these threads?...

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Standing by for a link.

Sheriff Bart said:

there was already a group in japan that, once THCa synthase was identified, they expressed it in tobacco and fed the tobacco CBG and guess what, the tobacco made THC!

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would love that cite.

mean mr.mustard said:

Standing by for a link.

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Correct me if I have misunderstood this article.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/62x502r678410lg2/

Cannabinoid biosynthesis apparently begins with seedling growth and continues until
physiological maturity. In the time study, CBD (ranging from 0.01 to 0.94% of plant dry matter)
was 10 to 20 times higher than other cannabinoids in all plant parts (Fig. la)

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Here is the abstract

Marijuana (Cannabis sativa L.) was sampled at nine progressive growth stages in Riley County, Kansas, and analyzed for four major cannabinoids: cannabidiol (CBD), della-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8-THC), delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC), and cannabinol (CBN). Seasonal fluctuation in cannabinoids were related to stage of plant development. Cannabinoids were lowest in seedlings, highest prior to flowering and at an intermediate level thereafter until physiological maturity. Cannabinoids were highest in flowers and progressively lower in leaves, petioles, stems, seeds, and roots. Cannabinoid content of male and female flowers was not significantly different.
Cannabidiol occurred in the highest concentrations (0.01 to 0.94% of dry matter) in all plant parts; delta-9-THC, the next highest (0.0001 to 0.06%) in the study over time. Cannabidiol content of leaf tissue of plants sampled from ten locations at flowering, ranged from 0.12 to 1.7%; delta-9-THC, from 0.01 to 0.49%. Some variation was attributed to environmental factors.
Results indicate transformation of CBD to delta-9-THC to CBN. Environmental stress apparently increased delta-9-THC concentration, and bivalent ions: Mg, Mn, and Fe of leaf tissue could have regulated enzyme systems responsible for cannabinoid synthesis

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