Research programs of five principal investigators at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) focus on the secondary chemistry (allelochemicals) of plants. These programs involve studies of: 1. Effects of genetic factors and environmental stresses plant secondary chemistry. 2. Consequences of variation in plant chemistry for plant resistance to insect and mammalian herbivores. 3. Genetic engineering and in vitro production of unique organic compounds by plants. The requests HPTLC system is essential for expeditious progress in these research areas because it is the only analytical system capable of rapid chromatographic analysis of the large numbers of samples required. Moreover, it is ideally suited for analysis of labile compounds, which are central to the work of several of the research programs. Without the capabilities offered by HPTLC, progress in the respective research areas will be seriously impeded.//
