The general role of terpenes and their global significance

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Abstract
Terpenes are universally present in small mounts in living organisms, where they play general rSles in membranes. On the other hand, they are also accumulated in many cases, and it is shown that the extraordinary variety they then display can be due to ecological factors playing an evolutionary rale. Examples are given to show that such an ecological r61e can be either "obvious", when these secondary metabolites are biologically inactive, or "hidden", when they are toxic and potentially deterrent, or simply active as hormones.

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