Host Tree and Geography Induce Metabolic Shifts in the Epiphytic Liverwort <i>Radula complanata</i>
Bryophytes are prolific producers of unique, specialized metabolites that are not found in other plants. As many of these unique natural products are potentially interesting, for example, pharmacological use, variations in the production regarding ecological or environmental conditions have not ofte...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Plants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/12/3/571 |
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| author | Kaitlyn L. Blatt-Janmaat Steffen Neumann Jörg Ziegler Kristian Peters |
| author_facet | Kaitlyn L. Blatt-Janmaat Steffen Neumann Jörg Ziegler Kristian Peters |
| author_sort | Kaitlyn L. Blatt-Janmaat |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Bryophytes are prolific producers of unique, specialized metabolites that are not found in other plants. As many of these unique natural products are potentially interesting, for example, pharmacological use, variations in the production regarding ecological or environmental conditions have not often been investigated. Here, we investigate metabolic shifts in the epiphytic <i>Radula complanata</i> L. (Dumort) with regard to different environmental conditions and the type of phorophyte (host tree). Plant material was harvested from three different locations in Sweden, Germany, and Canada and subjected to untargeted liquid chromatography high-resolution mass-spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-QTOF-MS) and data-dependent acquisition (DDA-MS). Using multivariate statistics, variable selection methods, in silico compound identification, and compound classification, a large amount of variation (39%) in the metabolite profiles was attributed to the type of host tree and 25% to differences in environmental conditions. We identified 55 compounds to vary significantly depending on the host tree (36 on the family level) and 23 compounds to characterize <i>R. complanata</i> in different environments. Taken together, we found metabolic shifts mainly in primary metabolites that were associated with the drought response to different humidity levels. The metabolic shifts were highly specific to the host tree, including mostly specialized metabolites suggesting high levels of ecological interaction. As <i>R. complanata</i> is a widely distributed generalist species, we found it to flexibly adapt its metabolome according to different conditions. We found metabolic composition to also mirror the constitution of the habitat, which makes it interesting for conservation measures. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:29:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0f5d586e34964854a64194571753394d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:29:04Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-0f5d586e34964854a64194571753394d2023-11-16T17:44:18ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472023-01-0112357110.3390/plants12030571Host Tree and Geography Induce Metabolic Shifts in the Epiphytic Liverwort <i>Radula complanata</i>Kaitlyn L. Blatt-Janmaat0Steffen Neumann1Jörg Ziegler2Kristian Peters3Department of Chemistry, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3, CanadaBioinformatics and Scientific Data, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, 06120 Halle (Saale), GermanyMolecular Signal Processing, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, 06120 Halle (Saale), GermanyBioinformatics and Scientific Data, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, 06120 Halle (Saale), GermanyBryophytes are prolific producers of unique, specialized metabolites that are not found in other plants. As many of these unique natural products are potentially interesting, for example, pharmacological use, variations in the production regarding ecological or environmental conditions have not often been investigated. Here, we investigate metabolic shifts in the epiphytic <i>Radula complanata</i> L. (Dumort) with regard to different environmental conditions and the type of phorophyte (host tree). Plant material was harvested from three different locations in Sweden, Germany, and Canada and subjected to untargeted liquid chromatography high-resolution mass-spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-QTOF-MS) and data-dependent acquisition (DDA-MS). Using multivariate statistics, variable selection methods, in silico compound identification, and compound classification, a large amount of variation (39%) in the metabolite profiles was attributed to the type of host tree and 25% to differences in environmental conditions. We identified 55 compounds to vary significantly depending on the host tree (36 on the family level) and 23 compounds to characterize <i>R. complanata</i> in different environments. Taken together, we found metabolic shifts mainly in primary metabolites that were associated with the drought response to different humidity levels. The metabolic shifts were highly specific to the host tree, including mostly specialized metabolites suggesting high levels of ecological interaction. As <i>R. complanata</i> is a widely distributed generalist species, we found it to flexibly adapt its metabolome according to different conditions. We found metabolic composition to also mirror the constitution of the habitat, which makes it interesting for conservation measures.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/12/3/571ecological metabolomicsnatural product chemistrychemical ecologybryophyteliverwortepiphyte |
| spellingShingle | Kaitlyn L. Blatt-Janmaat Steffen Neumann Jörg Ziegler Kristian Peters Host Tree and Geography Induce Metabolic Shifts in the Epiphytic Liverwort <i>Radula complanata</i> Plants ecological metabolomics natural product chemistry chemical ecology bryophyte liverwort epiphyte |
| title | Host Tree and Geography Induce Metabolic Shifts in the Epiphytic Liverwort <i>Radula complanata</i> |
| title_full | Host Tree and Geography Induce Metabolic Shifts in the Epiphytic Liverwort <i>Radula complanata</i> |
| title_fullStr | Host Tree and Geography Induce Metabolic Shifts in the Epiphytic Liverwort <i>Radula complanata</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Host Tree and Geography Induce Metabolic Shifts in the Epiphytic Liverwort <i>Radula complanata</i> |
| title_short | Host Tree and Geography Induce Metabolic Shifts in the Epiphytic Liverwort <i>Radula complanata</i> |
| title_sort | host tree and geography induce metabolic shifts in the epiphytic liverwort i radula complanata i |
| topic | ecological metabolomics natural product chemistry chemical ecology bryophyte liverwort epiphyte |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/12/3/571 |
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