Veitch, Nigel
Job TitlePhytochemist
DepartmentJodrell Laboratory
SectionSustainable Uses
Science Teams:
- Large-Scale Syntheses
- Leguminosae
- United Kingdom
- Lamiaceae
- Conventions and Policies
- Drylands: Africa
Joined Kew: 1992
Foreign Language(s): Danish
Qualifications & Appointments
BA (Hons), University of Oxford, 1988
MA, University of Oxford, 1992
DPhil, University of Oxford, 1992
EMBO Visiting Research Fellow, University of Copenhagen (1989)
Harmsworth Senior Scholar, Merton College, Oxford (1989–1991)
Visiting Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex (1997–1999)
Editorial Boards: Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, Phytochemistry Letters
Editorial Advisory Panel: Biochemical Journal
Role
Structure, function and diversity of natural products and macromolecules from plants and fungi; specialist in NMR spectroscopy.
Phytochemical research covers the diversity and uses of natural products, as well as their isolation and characterisation, with an emphasis on the application of new analytical methodologies. The main technique employed is NMR spectroscopy, which is used for the structure elucidation of natural products of economic (e.g. medicinal, pesticidal etc.) or systematic value isolated by staff, visitors, and collaborators, across a wide range of programmes. Other projects have focused on the structural basis of biological activity, and the characterisation of substrate binding sites in plant and fungal enzymes. Responsible for 400 MHz NMR spectrometer at Kew (installed July 2000) and external member of the Medical Research Council Biomedical NMR Centre, National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London (1992–). Specialised areas of interest include the phytochemistry of the Leguminosae, and the utilisation of chemical characters, notably flavonoids, in multidisciplinary legume research. There is also an emphasis on using chemical profiling techniques that require only small fragments of material sourced from living or preserved collections. Phytochemistry contributor for the series, Genera Orchidacearum (1997–). Long standing interest in flavonoids and isoflavonoids, with published work that includes two series of reviews commissioned by the Royal Society of Chemistry for Natural Product Reports. Recipient of the Jack L. Beal Award from the American Society of Pharmacognosy and Journal of Natural Products.
Projects
- African Dryland Alliance for Pesticidal-Plant Technologies (ADAPPT)
- Authentication and Chemical Fingerprinting of Economically Important Species
- Diversity of Biologically Active Plants and Plant-Derived Compound
- Chemosystematics and biological activity of Lamiaceae
- CITES-Listed Timbers
- Fungal metabolites
- Genera Orchidacearum
- Importance of Legumes and Legume-Derived Compounds in Medicine and Agriculture
- Isoflavonoids of the Leguminosae
- Plant-Insect Interactions
- Caesalpinioid woodlands of southern Africa: optimising the indigenous use of pesticidal plants (Southern African Pesticidal Plants project – SAPP)
(project completed 2009) - Systematic Phytochemistry of Legumes
- Systematic Phytochemical and Sustainable Use Studies in Malpighiales
- Systematics, Sustainable Use and Conservation of Tribe Ocimeae (Basil and Allies, Lamiaceae)
- Taxonomic tools for Salicaceae and Achariaceae
Selected Recent Publications
Kite, G.C., Rowe, E.R., Lewis, G.P., & Veitch, N.C. (2011). Acylated flavonol tri-and tetraglycosides in the flavonoid metabolome of Cladrastis kentukea (Leguminosae), Phytochemistry 72: 372–384.
Scott Brown, A.S., Veitch, N.C. & Simmonds, M.S.J. (2011). Leaf chemistry and foliage avoidance by the thrips Frankliniella occidentalis and Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis in glasshouse collections. Journal of Chemical Ecology 37: 301–310.
Veitch, N.C. (2010). Flavonoid Chemistry of the Leguminosae. In Recent Advances in Polyphenol Research, Vol. 2. (Santos-Buelga, C., Escribano-Baillon, M.T., Lattanzio, V., eds), Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, pp. 23–58.
Veitch, N.C. (2009). Isoflavonoids of the Leguminosae. Natural Product Reports 26: 776–802.
Stevenson, P.C., Dayarathna, T.K., Belmain, S.R. & Veitch, N.C. (2009). Bisdesmosidic saponins from Securidaca longepedunculata roots: Evaluation of deterrency and toxicity to Coleopteran storage pests. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57: 8860–8867.
Selected Earlier Publications
Veitch, N.C., Kite, G.C. & Lewis, G.P. (2008). Flavonol pentaglycosides of Cordyla (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae: Swartzieae): Distribution and taxonomic implications. Phytochemistry 69: 2329–2335.
Veitch, N.C. & Grayer, R.J. (2008). Flavonoids and their glycosides, including anthocyanins. Natural Product Reports 25: 555–611.
Veitch, N.C. & Grayer, R.J. (2006). Chalcones, dihydrochalcones and aurones. In Flavonoids: Chemistry, Biochemistry and Applications (Andersen, Ø.M. and Markham, K.R., Eds.), pp. 1003–1100. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Wellsow, J., Grayer, R.J., Veitch, N.C., Kokubun, T., Lelli, R., Kite, G.C. & Simmonds, M.S.J. (2006). Insect-antifeedant and antibacterial activity of diterpenoids from species of Plectranthus. Phytochemistry 67: 1818–1825.
Veitch, N.C. (2004). Molecules of interest. Horseradish peroxidase: a modern view of a classic enzyme. Phytochemistry 65: 249–259.
