Comparative Metabolomics of Fruits and Leaves in a Hyperdiverse Lineage Suggests Fruits Are a Key Incubator of Phytochemical Diversification

Frontiers in Plant Science

Richard F. Helm¹  Sherry B. Hildreth¹  Diego Salazar²  Susan R. Whitehead³  Gerald F. Schneider⁴ 

[1] Department of Biochemistry, Fralin Life Sciences Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, United States;Department of Biological Sciences, International Center for Tropical Botany, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States;Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, United States;Department of Biology, Utah State University, Logan, UT, United States;

关键词: chemical diversity;    molecular networking;    metabolomics;    fruit;    seed;    leaf;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpls.2021.693739

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Interactions between plants and leaf herbivores have long been implicated as the major driver of plant secondary metabolite diversity. However, other plant-animal interactions, such as those between fruits and frugivores, may also be involved in phytochemical diversification. Using 12 species of Piper, we conducted untargeted metabolomics and molecular networking with extracts of fruits and leaves. We evaluated organ-specific secondary metabolite composition and compared multiple dimensions of phytochemical diversity across organs, including richness, structural complexity, and variability across samples at multiple scales within and across species. Plant organ identity, species identity, and the interaction between the two all significantly influenced secondary metabolite composition. Leaves and fruit shared a majority of compounds, but fruits contained more unique compounds and had higher total estimated chemical richness. While the relative levels of chemical richness and structural complexity across organs varied substantially across species, fruit diversity exceeded leaf diversity in more species than the reverse. Furthermore, the variance in chemical composition across samples was higher for fruits than leaves. By documenting a broad pattern of high phytochemical diversity in fruits relative to leaves, this study lays groundwork for incorporating fruit into a comprehensive and integrative understanding of the ecological and evolutionary factors shaping secondary metabolite composition at the whole-plant level.

【 授权许可】

Unknown