ABSTRACT
The four most common atoms that make up life on earth are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is comprised of three of these essential macronutrients. Cyanide played a pivotal role in the prebiotic development of amino acids, peptides, nucleotides, lipids, and membranes, and continues to be an integral part of nature on earth and the universe. Cyanide is a source of nitrogen, a nutrient that all living organisms require. Cyanide has been shown to form nutrient “microcycles” in the environment [2,3] (discussed in detail in Chapters 6 and 12). These microcycles involve both cyanogenic (cyanide producing) organisms, as well as organisms that assimilate cyanide as a sources of carbon and nitrogen for growth as discussed in Chapter 6. Today, cyanogenic compounds (compounds containing the CN− moiety) can be found in more than 3000 species of plants, animals, microbes, and fungi. In most organisms, cyanide is used to deter herbivory or pathogenic attack and to regulate specific biochemical processes.
