Essential oil composition of Agastache anethiodora Britton (Lamiaceae) infected by cucumber mosaic virus (CMV)

Abstract

Giant hyssop, Agastache anethiodora Britton, cultivated at the Herb Garden of Casola Valsenio, Italy, has been found for the first time naturally infected by cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). Characteristic symptoms on the leaves were chlorotic or yellow mosaic, ring and line patterns and malformation, followed by yellowing and stunting of the entire plant. CMV was mechanically transmitted to species of the families Chenopodiaceae and Solanaceae and identified by applying PAS-ELISA and RT-PCR techniques. The essential oil of both healthy and CMV-infected plants has been evaluated by means of GC-FID and GC-MS, with the object of identifying composition differences caused by the disease. The infection of A. anethiodora by CMV was found to induce significant reduction in the yield of essential oil and several changes in the relative composition of the main components: pulegone, menthone, iso-menthone, methyl chavicole and limonene. Methyl chavicole content, in particular, was drastically reduced. The importance of the phytopathological status of essential oil-bearing plants is outlined.

Influence of plant growth regulators on volatiles produced by in vitro grown shoots of Agastache rugosa (Fischer & C.A.Meyer) O. Kuntze

“…Regardless of the plant material, the major compounds were accompanied by several sesquiterpenoids as well as aliphatic (C5, C6, C7, C8, C9) alcohols, aldehydes, esters, and ketones (some of which are known as green leaf volatiles), none of which exceeded 1% of the total VOCs. In essential oil from a related species, A. anethiodora, a drastic decrease in EG and an increase in monoterpene hydrocarbons and isomenthone/menthone was observed upon infection by cucumber mosaic virus (Bruni et al 2007). Several other authors have also reported a great diversity of essential oil composition between samples of different origin (Chae et al 2005;Svoboda et al 1995), but there is no complete explanation of the possible cause of this variation.…”

Factors affecting secondary metabolite production in plants: volatile components and essential oils

“…26 Viral diseases such as cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), transmitted by aphids, have been detected in several medicinal and aromatic crops. 38 An infection of the giant hyssop (Agastache anethiodora) with CMV was found to induce an 88% reduction in the yield of the essential oil as well as changes in the relative amounts of the oil components. 39 …”

Influence of Viral Infection on Essential Oil Composition of Ocimum basilicum (Lamiaceae)

“…Although the virus has not been identified, it is well known that viral infection can induce varied plant metabolism changes, modifying respiration rates, photosynthesis, and transpiration [17]. However, there are few papers concerning secondary metabolism changes in virus infected plants [12,[21][22][23].…”