Abstract
The effect of environmental factors on the chemical composition of plants eventually resulting in plant growth regulation is an age-old issue in plant biology. Nowadays, the acceleration in changes in environmental conditions (e.g. global warming) can act as an incentive to investigate their correlation with metabolic changes. In this study, Cistus monspeliensis plants grown on the island of Sardinia (Italy) were used to explore the geographical-mediated metabolic variation and its repercussion on plant-fungus interactions. Samples of different ecotypes of C. monspeliensis were collected and chemically profiled by 1H NMR and HPTLC-based metabolomics and the relationship between the variations of biological activity was examined by multivariate data analysis. The ecotypes, collected from different geographical zones and altitudes, exhibited clearly distinguishable chemical profiles, particularly in their terpene and phenolic contents. In particular, multivariate data analysis revealed several diterpenes of the labdane and clerodane series among the terpenes and methoxyflavonoids to be responsible for the differentiation. The antifungal activity of the plants was used to explore the correlation between chemical variation and biological activity. Results showed that there was a strong correlation between the metabolic profiles and the antifungal activity, revealing terpenes and methoxylated flavonoids as the main involved metabolites. This demonstrated that environmental factors can influence the chemical variation of plant ecotypes, resulting in the generation of chemotypes that are potentially adapted to their niche conditions including the plant-fungal interactions.
Highlights
The effect of environmental factors on the processes of plant life such as growth regulation and adaptation, which are mainly mediated by the alteration of their chemical components, is an age-old issue in plant biology (Scott, 1969)
The detailed structure of a labdanoid was elucidated by additional signals: two double doublets (H-14a and H-14 b) at δ 2.28 (J = 14.8 Hz, 6.4 Hz) and δ 2.11 (J = 14.7 Hz, 7.5 Hz) of the side chain of labdanes as well as the shift of one of the methyl signals to δ 1.10 suggested the presence of 8hydroxylabdan-15-oic acid
One of the premises of this study was that metabolic variation in plants have developed as a response to environmental factors should inevitably be reflected on their activity against pathogens, given that they are part of the environment with which the plants interact
Summary
The effect of environmental factors on the processes of plant life such as growth regulation and adaptation, which are mainly mediated by the alteration of their chemical components, is an age-old issue in plant biology (Scott, 1969). Considering that ecological interactions are mediated by these chemical signals, the study of the metabolomic profiles of ecotypes from diverse locations provides an ideal opportunity to study the correlation between geographical regions, metabolite variation and biological interactions allowing a better understanding of plant specialized metabolite selection and variation (Salomé-Abarca et al, 2019) In this regard, the rock-rose (Cistus monspeliensis L., Cistaceae), one of the most common Cistus species, is an interesting model. The island of Sardinia possesses a great environmental diversity because of varying topographical features on one hand and at the same time is isolated from the influence of exotic species due to its separation from the mainland (Fenu et al, 2014) This specific feature made the island potentially interesting for the study of the influence of environmental factors on the chemical composition of a variety of rock-rose ecotypes growing in different geographical locations and how this affected their biological interactions. The chemical variation and metabolic interaction among ecotypes were, as expected, reflected in a variation of their antifungal activity as confirmed by biological assays
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