Abstract
BackgroundPlants are known to emit diverse volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which may function as signaling substances in plant communication with other organisms. Thuja occidentalis, which is widely cultivated throughout China, releases aromatic VOCs into the air in winter and early spring. The relationship of this cultivated plant with its neighboring plants is necessary for the conservation of biodiversity.Results(−)-α-thujone (60.34 ± 5.58%) was found to be the major component in VOCs from the Shenyang population. The essential oils (EOs) from the Kunming and Shenyang populations included the major components (−)-α-thujone, fenchone, (+)-β-thujone, and (+)-hibaene, identified using GC-MS analyses. (−)-α-thujone and (+)-hibaene were purified and identified by NMR identification. EOs and (−)-α-thujone exhibited valuable phytotoxic activities against seed germination and seedling growth of the plants Taraxacum mongolicum and Arabidopsis thaliana. Moreover, the EOs displayed potent inhibitory activity against pathogenic fungi of maize, including Fusarium graminearum, Curvularia lunata, and Bipolaris maydis, as well as one human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans. Quantitative analyses revealed high concentrations of (−)-α-thujone in the leaves of T. occidentalis individuals from both the Shenyang and Kunming populations. However, (−)-α-thujone (0.18 ± 0.17 μg/g) was only detected in the rhizosphere soil to a distance of 0.5 m from the plant.ConclusionsTaken together, our results suggest that the phytotoxic effects and antifungal activities of the EOs and (−)-α-thujone in T. occidentalis certainly increased the adaptability of this plant to the environment. Nevertheless, low concentrations of released (−)-α-thujone indicated that reasonable distance of T. occidentalis with other plant species will impair the effects of allelochemical of T. occidentalis.
Highlights
Plants are known to emit diverse volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which may function as signaling substances in plant communication with other organisms
Chemical constituents in VOCs and essential oils (EOs) analyzed using Gas chromatographymass spectrometer (GC-MS) In order to analyze the secondary metabolites present in T. occidentalis VOCs, VOCs were obtained through a closed-loop stripping system
Since the amount of VOCs was insufficient for subsequent experiments, EOs from T. occidentalis from both Shenyang and Kunming were collected using the hydrodistillation method [27]
Summary
Plants are known to emit diverse volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which may function as signaling substances in plant communication with other organisms. Thuja occidentalis, which is widely cultivated throughout China, releases aromatic VOCs into the air in winter and early spring. The relationship of this cultivated plant with its neighboring plants is necessary for the conservation of biodiversity. Plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are triggered by both biotic and abiotic stresses can act as a complex mixture of low-molecular weight lipophilic metabolites [1, 2]. Certain released VOCs are major precursors of phytotoxic compounds which can act in plant-plant communications [8]. It is difficult to study the chemical functions of VOCs and EOs due to pronounced lipophilicity and volatility, the compounds and biological properties of plant VOCs and EOs have been still intriguing research topics
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