Effect of the environment on the secondary metabolic profile of Tithonia diversifolia: a model for environmental metabolomics of plants

Abstract

Tithonia diversifolia is an invasive weed commonly found in tropical ecosystems. In this work, we investigate the influence of different abiotic environmental factors on the plant’s metabolite profile by multivariate statistical analyses of spectral data deduced by UHPLC-DAD-ESI-HRMS and NMR methods. Different plant part samples of T. diversifolia which included leaves, stems, roots, and inflorescences were collected from two Brazilian states throughout a 24-month period, along with the corresponding monthly environmental data. A metabolomic approach employing concatenated LC-MS and NMR data was utilised for the first time to study the relationships between environment and plant metabolism. A seasonal pattern was observed for the occurrence of metabolites that included sugars, sesquiterpenes lactones and phenolics in the leaf and stem parts, which can be correlated to the amount of rainfall and changes in temperature. The distribution of the metabolites in the inflorescence and root parts were mainly affected by variation of some soil nutrients such as Ca, Mg, P, K and Cu. We highlight the environment-metabolism relationship for T. diversifolia and the combined analytical approach to obtain reliable data that contributed to a holistic understanding of the influence of abiotic environmental factors on the production of metabolites in various plant parts.

Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils From Azorella Spinosa (Apiaceae) Against Wild Phytopathogenic Bacteria

“…Table 1 showed yield and density of essential oil of A. spinosa collected in different time. The result obtained showed the amount of essential oil produced by the plant can be modified by external factors such as climate and internal like plant phenology 30 . The general yield of these specie is low compared with reports for A. trifurcata and A. cryptanta from San Juan, Argentina, described previously others authors where it is reported composition of essential oil in the range of 21 to 0.2 % 23, 24 , however our analysis showed yield of 12 to 0.03%.…”

“…The results obtained suggest that the contituents are principally the same for three collections studied, with any differences in minor constituents. In general the genus Azorella grows in poor soils, which could indicate that these plant components serve as protection against desiccation, high solar radiation and unfavorable weather and geographical conditions due to highly specialized physiological processes that affect their chemical response 30 . These reach from the synthesis of special lipids that modify cell membranes for flexibility and H 2 O permeability to other features like the cushion-growth form of A. spinosa as a way of reducing extreme temperatures and H 2 O fluctuations, process not seen in low-altitude plants 31 .…”

Evaluation of some biological activities of Trigonella hamosa aerial parts

“…The production and accumulation of primary and secondary metabolites by plants is greatly affected by the environmental factors. Moreover, secondary metabolites biosynthesis by plants is the result of chemical interaction between plants and their environment, and variations in the plant metabolic profiles seem to be a direct response to changes in conditions of the plant surrounding environment (Sampaio et al, 2016). Therefore, the difference in environmental conditions could account for variation in the metabolic profile of the same plant species collected from different geographical locations.…”

Establishing the botanical identity of plant drugs based on their active ingredients under diverse growth conditions

“…These metabolites mostly belong to the class of sesquiterpene lactones, flavonoids and trans-cinnamic-acid derivatives (mainly caffeoylquinic acid) and possess several therapeutic properties (Sampaio ., 2016). The gaseous as well as heavy-metal pollutants are markedly hazardous when in high concentration.…”