Abstract
Aims Erigeron breviscapus (Vant.) Hand.-Mazz. is an important, widely used Chinese herb with scutellarin, 1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and erigoster B being its major active compounds. We aimed to resolve the influence of biotic and abiotic factors on the concentrations of these compounds and to determine appropriate cultivation methods to improve the yields of the four compounds in this herb.MethodsIn order to detect the major genetic and natural environmental factors affecting the yields of these four compounds, we applied AFLP markers to investigate the population genetic differentiation and HPLC to measure the concentrations of four major active compounds among 23 wild populations which were located across almost the entire distribution of this species in China. The meteorological data including annual average temperature, annual average precipitation and annual average hours of sunshine were collected. The relationships among the concentrations of four compounds and environmental factors and genetic differentiation were studied.Important FindingsLow intraspecific genetic differentiation is detected, and there is no obvious correlation between the genetic differentiation and the contents of the chemical compounds. We investigated the correlation between the concentrationsof four compounds (scutellarin, 1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and erigoster B) and environmental factors. Concentrations of two compounds (1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid) were correlated with environmental factors. The concentration of 1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid is positively correlated with latitude, and is negatively correlated with the annual average temperature. The concentration of 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid is positively correlated with annual average precipitation. Therefore, changing cultivation conditions may significantly improve the yields of these two compounds. We found the concentration of scutellarin positively correlated with that of erigoster B and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, respectively. We inferred that the synthesis of these two pairs of compounds may share similar triggering mechanism as they synthesized in a common pathway.
Highlights
The genus Erigeron L. (Asteraceae: Tribe Astereae) includes 390 species worldwide [1]
2.1946% among 23 populations, erigoster B ranged from 0.0665% to 0.6401%, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid ranged from 0.2726% to 1.5320% and 1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid varied from 0.0519% to 0.2673% (Table 2)
The Principal component analysis (PCA) distribution plot of samples suggested that the chemical characteristics differentiated populations from each other, but no obvious cluster was detected among the 23 populations (Fig. 2B)
Summary
The genus Erigeron L. (Asteraceae: Tribe Astereae) includes 390 species worldwide [1]. Species of Erigeron are herbs or rarely subshrubs, usually perennial, rarely annual or biennial. Is an important herb in traditional Chinese medicine and has been used to treat cardiovascular and cerebral vessel diseases [2,3]. This species is a perennial herb, which is endemic to southwestern China at elevations between 1000 m and 3500 m. It is mainly distributed in mid-altitude mountains and subalpine open slopes, grasslands and forest margins [4]. Erigeron breviscapus is diploid [5] and has an outcrossing mating system [6]
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