Abstract
The roles of ethylene, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid and their interactions in frankincense resin production in Boswellia sacra trees growing in the drylands of Oman were studied. On March 18 (Experiment 1) and September 17 (Experiment 2), 2018, 32-year-old B. sacra trees with multiple trunks were selected at the Agricultural Experiment Station, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. Various lanolin pastes containing Ethrel, an ethylene-releasing compound; methyl jasmonate; sodium salicylate; and combinations of these compounds were applied to debarked wounds 15 mm in diameter on the trunks. After a certain period, the frankincense resin secreted from each wound was harvested and weighed. The anatomical characteristics of the resin ducts were also studied in the bark tissue near the upper end of each wound. The combination of Ethrel and methyl jasmonate greatly enhanced frankincense resin production within 7 days in both seasons. The application of methyl jasmonate alone, sodium salicylate alone or a combination of both did not affect resin production. These findings suggest a high possibility of artificial enhancement of frankincense resin production by the combined application of Ethrel and methyl jasmonate to B. sacra trees.
Highlights
Boswellia sacra Flueck., a dry-season-deciduous broadleaf tree with a height of 6 m, is distributed in Yemen, Oman, the southern Arabian Peninsula, Somalia and the Horn of Africa[1]
Frankincense production on the wounded bark of Boswellia species is a typical form of resinosis: a defense reaction facilitated by internal secretory structures called resin ducts, i.e., resin canals in the
The results showed that both treatment with Et alone and combined treatment with Et + Methyl jasmonate (MJ) tended to promote increased resin production (Fig. 1)
Summary
Boswellia sacra Flueck., a dry-season-deciduous broadleaf tree with a height of 6 m, is distributed in Yemen, Oman, the southern Arabian Peninsula, Somalia and the Horn of Africa[1]. An excessive outflow of gum such as gum Arabic production in Acacia senegal[9] as a result of external stimuli is known as g ummosis[10] Such resin and gum secretions can isolate and seal off the damaged stem tissue, inhibiting desiccation and expansion of the injured area and preventing the secondary attack and spread of pathogenic microorganisms[11]. Constitutive resin ducts are commonly observed in the phloem and/or xylem of coniferous species and function in structural defense[10,13,14,15,16] Such constitutive resin ducts, similar to those of conifers, have been observed in many families of woody angiosperms, such as Anacardiaceae, Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Hypericaceae, S imaroubaceae[10] and Burseraceae, including Boswellia species[4,12]
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