Editing Group 5 element (section)

== Biological occurrences ==

{{main|Vanadium#Biological role}}
Out of the group 5 elements, only vanadium has been identified as playing a role in the biological chemistry of living systems, but even it plays a very limited role in [[biology]], and is more important in ocean environments than on land.<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Bluebell_tunicates_Nick_Hobgood.jpg|thumb|right|[[Tunicate|Tunicates]] such as this bluebell tunicate contain vanadium as [[vanabins]].]]
Vanadium, essential to [[ascidiacea|ascidians]] and [[tunicate]]s as [[vanabins]], has been known in the [[blood cell]]s of [[Ascidiacea]] (sea squirts) since 1911,<ref name="henze1911">{{cite journal|last1=Henze|first1=M.|title=Untersuchungen über das Blut der Ascidien. I. Mitteilung. Die Vanadiumverbindung der Blutkörperchen|journal=Hoppe-Seyler's Zeitschrift für Physiologische Chemie|date=1911|volume=72|issue=5–6|pages=494–501|doi=10.1515/bchm2.1911.72.5-6.494|language=de|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1448780}}</ref><ref name="michibata2002">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1002/jemt.10042 | last1 = Michibata | first1 = H | last2 = Uyama | first2 = T | last3 = Ueki | first3 = T | last4 = Kanamori | first4 = K | name-list-style = vanc | year = 2002 | title = Vanadocytes, cells hold the key to resolving the highly selective accumulation and reduction of vanadium in ascidians | url = http://ir.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/files/public/0/22/20141016115442843522/MicroscopResTech_56_421-434_2002.pdf | journal = Microscopy Research and Technique | volume = 56 | issue = 6 | pages = 421–434 | pmid = 11921344 | s2cid = 15127292 | access-date = 26 June 2019 | archive-date = 17 March 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200317132408/https://ir.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/files/public/0/22/20141016115442843522/MicroscopResTech_56_421-434_2002.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> in concentrations of vanadium in their blood more than 100 times higher than the concentration of vanadium in the seawater around them. Several species of macrofungi accumulate vanadium (up to 500&nbsp;mg/kg in dry weight).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kneifel|first1=Helmut |last2=Bayer|first2=Ernst |year=1997|title=Determination of the Structure of the Vanadium Compound, Amavadine, from Fly Agaric|journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English|volume=12|issue=6|pages=508|issn=1521-3773|doi=10.1002/anie.197305081}}</ref> Vanadium-dependent [[bromoperoxidase]] generates organobromine compounds in a number of species of marine [[algae]].<ref>{{Cite journal|journal = Natural Product Reports|year = 2004|volume = 21|issue = 1|pmid = 15039842|doi = 10.1039/b302337k|title = The role of vanadium bromoperoxidase in the biosynthesis of halogenated marine natural products|first1 = Alison|last1 = Butler|last2= Carter-Franklin|first2=Jayme N.|pages = 180–8}}</ref>

[[Rat]]s and [[chicken]]s are also known to require vanadium in very small amounts and deficiencies result in reduced growth and impaired [[reproduction]].<ref>{{cite journal|title = Growth Effects of Vanadium in the Rat|first1 = Klaus|last1 = Schwarz|last2=Milne|first2=David B.|journal = Science|volume = 174|issue = 4007|year = 1971|pages = 426–428|jstor = 1731776|doi = 10.1126/science.174.4007.426|pmid = 5112000|bibcode = 1971Sci...174..426S | s2cid=24362265 }}</ref> Vanadium is a relatively controversial [[dietary supplement]], primarily for increasing [[insulin]] sensitivity<ref>{{cite journal|journal = Diabetes Care|volume = 26|pages = 1277–1294|year = 2003|title = Systematic Review of Herbs and Dietary Supplements for Glycemic Control in Diabetes|first1 = Gloria Y.|last1 = Yeh|last2= Eisenberg|first2=David M.|last3=Kaptchuk|first3=Ted J.|last4=Phillips|first4=Russell S.|url = http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/26/4/1277|doi = 10.2337/diacare.26.4.1277|pmid = 12663610|issue = 4|doi-access = free|url-access = subscription}}</ref> and [[body-building]]. [[Vanadyl sulfate]] may improve glucose control in people with [[type 2 diabetes]].<ref name="Badmaev">{{cite journal| journal = The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine| volume = 5| year = 1999| pages = 273–291| title = Vanadium: a review of its potential role in the fight against diabetes| last1 = Badmaev| first1 = V.| doi = 10.1089/acm.1999.5.273| last2 = Prakash| first2 = Subbalakshmi| last3 = Majeed| first3 = Muhammed| pmid=10381252| issue = 3}}</ref> In addition, decavanadate and oxovanadates are species that potentially have many biological activities and that have been successfully used as tools in the comprehension of several biochemical processes.<ref>{{cite journal|journal = Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry| volume = 103|pages = 536–546|year = 2009|title = Decavanadate and oxovanadates: Oxometalates with many biological activities|first1 = Manuel|last1 = Aureliano| last2=Crans|first2=Debbie C.| issue = 4| doi = 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2008.11.010| pmid = 19110314}}</ref>