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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Assessing specialized metabolite diversity in the cosmopolitan plant genus Euphorbia l.
Frontiers in Plant Science, Volume 10, Article 846, Year 2019
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Description
Coevolutionary theory suggests that an arms race between plants and herbivores yields increased plant specialized metabolite diversity and the geographic mosaic theory of coevolution predicts that coevolutionary interactions vary across geographic scales. Consequently, plant specialized metabolite diversity is expected to be highest in coevolutionary hotspots, geographic regions, which exhibit strong reciprocal selection on the interacting species. Despite being well-established theoretical frameworks, technical limitations have precluded rigorous hypothesis testing. Here we aim at understanding how geographic separation over evolutionary time may have impacted chemical differentiation in the cosmopolitan plant genus Euphorbia. We use a combination of state-of-the-art computational mass spectral metabolomics tools together with cell-based high-throughput immunomodulatory testing. Our results show significant differences in specialized metabolite diversity across geographically separated phylogenetic clades. Chemical structural diversity of the highly toxic Euphorbia diterpenoids is significantly reduced in species native to the Americas, compared to Afro-Eurasia. The localization of these compounds to young stems and roots suggest a possible ecological relevance in herbivory defense. This is further supported by reduced immunomodulatory activity in the American subclade as well as herbivore distribution patterns. We conclude that computational mass spectrometric metabolomics coupled with relevant ecological data provide a strong tool for exploring plant specialized metabolite diversity in a chemo-evolutionary framework. © 2019 Ernst, Nothias, van der Hooft, Silva, Saslis-Lagoudakis, Grace, Martinez-Swatson, Hassemer, Funez, Simonsen, Medema, Staerk, Nilsson, Lovato, Dorrestein and Rønsted.
Authors & Co-Authors
Ernst, Madeleine
Denmark, Copenhagen
Københavns Universitet
United States, La Jolla
University of California, San Diego
Nothias, Louis Félix
United States, La Jolla
University of California, San Diego
van der Hooft, Justin J.J.
Netherlands, Wageningen
Wageningen University & Research
Saslis-Lagoudakis, Charilaos Haris
Denmark, Copenhagen
Københavns Universitet
Grace, Olwen M.
United Kingdom, Richmond
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Martinez-Swatson, Karen Agatha
Denmark, Copenhagen
Københavns Universitet
Hassemer, Gustavo
Denmark, Copenhagen
Københavns Universitet
Brazil, Florianopolis
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Simonsen, Henrik Toft
Denmark, Lyngby
Technical University of Denmark
Medema, Marnix H.
Netherlands, Wageningen
Wageningen University & Research
Staerk, Dan
Denmark, Copenhagen
Københavns Universitet
Dorrestein, Pieter C.
United States, La Jolla
University of California, San Diego
Rønsted, Nina A.
Denmark, Copenhagen
Københavns Universitet
Statistics
Citations: 26
Authors: 12
Affiliations: 7
Identifiers
Doi:
10.3389/fpls.2019.00846
ISSN:
1664462X
Research Areas
Environmental