9407308 Appel The highly variable activity of plant chemical tannins in ecological interactions has led to considerable controversy about their ecological significance. It appears that this variation and controversy arise from a failure to realize the importance of oxidation in activating these molecules. That is, chemicals in the plant accept electrons from tannins and this in turn facilitates the action of tannins as anti-viral agents in the insect gut. In this study the importance of electron donation and chemical bonding will be investigated by demonstrating the importance of oxidation to tannin action by assaying the antiviral activity of tannins in the presence and absence of plant oxidants and by demonstrating that these oxidized tannins bind chemically to viral proteins in the model gut system of the Gypsy Moth. ***
