Abstract
Phlobaphenes are insoluble phenolic compounds which are accumulated in a limited number of tissues such as seed pericarp and cob glumes, conferring on them a typical red-brown pigmentation. These secondary metabolites, derived from 3-deoxy flavonoids, are thought to have an important role in plants’ resistance against various pathogens, e.g. by reducing fungal infection, and also to have beneficial effects on human and animal health due to their high antioxidant power. The aim of this work was to determine the role of phlobaphenes in reducing mycotoxin contamination on maize kernels. We analysed the effect of the P1 (pericarp color 1) gene on phlobaphenes accumulation, pericarp thickness and fumonisins accumulation. Analysing fumonisins accumulation in different genetic backgrounds through three seasons, we found a clear decrease of these toxins through the three years (Wilcoxon test, Z = 2.2, p = 0.0277) in coloured lines compared with the isogenic non-coloured ones. The coloured lines, carrying P1 allele showed an increase of phlobaphenes (about 10–14 fold) with respect to colourless lines. Furthermore there was a correlation between phlobaphenes accumulation and pericarp thickness (R = 0.9318; p = 0.0067). Taken together, these results suggest that the P1 gene plays a central role in regulating phlobaphenes accumulation in maize kernels, and indirectly, also tackles mycotoxins accumulation. The development and cultivation of corn varieties rich in phlobaphenes could be a powerful tool to reduce the loss of both quality and yield due to mycotoxin contamination, increasing the safety and the quality of the maize product.
Highlights
Phlobaphenes are insoluble phenolic compounds which are accumulated in a limited number of tissues such as seed pericarp and cob glumes, conferring on them a typical red-brown pigmentation
With the aim of studying the relationship between the presence of the PERICARP COLOR1 (P1) gene and the mycotoxin contamination on maize seeds, we produced as described in the Materials and Methods section, four synthetic populations, Syn1r and Syn2r characterized by the presence of the P1 gene, and Syn1c and Syn2c the colorless p1 controls
In maize they are accumulated in a limited number of tissues, such as seed pericarp, a tissue of maternal origin corresponding to the ovary wall, and cob glumes[29,31,32], and confers on them a typical red-brown pigmentation which is sometimes very dark, as in the italian Nero Spinoso variety traditionally cultivated in the Camonica Valley[29]
Summary
Phlobaphenes are insoluble phenolic compounds which are accumulated in a limited number of tissues such as seed pericarp and cob glumes, conferring on them a typical red-brown pigmentation. These secondary metabolites, derived from 3-deoxy flavonoids, are thought to have an important role in plants’ resistance against various pathogens, e.g. by reducing fungal infection, and to have beneficial effects on human and animal health due to their high antioxidant power. The development and cultivation of corn varieties rich in phlobaphenes could be a powerful tool to reduce the loss of both quality and yield due to mycotoxin contamination, increasing the safety and the quality of the maize product. Apiforol and luteoforol are polymerized into phlobaphenes[2,9,10,11]
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