Terpene Chemodiversity of Relict Conifers Picea omorika, Pinus heldreichii, and Pinus peuce, Endemic to Balkan

Abstract

Terpenes are often used as ecological and chemotaxonomic markers of plant species, as well as for estimation of geographic variability. Essential oils of relic and Balkan endemic/subendemic conifers, Picea omorika, Pinus heldreichii, and P. peuce, in central part of Balkan Peninsula (Serbia and Montenegro), on the level of terpene classes and common terpene compounds were investigated. In finding terpene combinations, which could show the best diversity between species and their natural populations, several statistical methods were applied. Apart from the content of different terpene classes (P. omorika has the most abundant O-containing monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes; P. heldreichii and P. peuce have the largest abundance of sesquiterpene and monoterpene hydrocarbons, resp.), the species are clearly separated according to terpene profile with 22 common compounds. But, divergences in their populations were established only in combination of several compounds (specific for each species), and they were found to be the results of geomorphologic, climatic, and genetic factors. We found similarities between investigated species and some taxa from literature with respect to terpene composition, possibly due to hybridization and phylogenetic relations. Obtained results are also important regarding to chemotaxonomy, biogeography, phylogeny, and evolution of these taxa.

Terpenes as Useful Markers in Differentiation of Natural Populations of Relict Pines Pinus heldreichii, P. nigra, and P. peuce

“…Hence, we may assume that ‘terpene evolution’ in these species went in the direction toward synthesis of a larger carbon skeleton of volatile molecules, and therefore, a greater structural diversity of the products. Nikolić et al . reported somewhat different terpenes that influenced diversity of P .…”

“…peuce populations from the central Balkans (with Picea omorika Pančić ( Purk .) as outgroup), has already been approved by statistically selected terpenes and n ‐alkanes . However, in the present work accent was given on investigation of terpene differentiation between two morphologically similar hard pines: P .…”

“…heldreichii and P . peuce have already been investigated, in this article we included one additional P . heldreichii population and used one more multivariate statistical analysis (canonical discriminate analysis).…”

Essential Oil Composition ofPinus peuceGriseb. Needles and Twigs from Two National Parks of Kosovo

“…Furthermore, genome size and base composition of Pinus species from the Balkan region hasve been estimated by flow cytometry [26], and isozyme variation in Pinus peuce has been studied by Zhelev et al [27]. Results of chemical composition (terpenes and n-alkanes) of some populations of P. peuce from Kosovo had already been investigated ([2, 19–22] and older references cited therein).…”

Chemotaxonomy

“…dianatnejadii) from Iran were characterized by GC-FID and GC-MS analyses (Pirmoradi et al, 2013). Three relict conifers are clearly separated according to terpene profile with 22 common compounds (Nikolić et al, 2011). Forty-nine compounds, accounting for 96.6-99.7% of the oil compositions, were identified.…”