title: Biogeographical patterns and phenological changes in Lapiedra martinezii LAG. related to its alkaloid diversity.
abstract: The aim of this work was to investigate the alkaloid patterns of Lapiedra martinezii and their relation to biogeography and phenology focused in a phylogenetic comparison. Plants from 14 populations of L. martinezii, covering almost its entire distribution area, were subjected to morphological, ecological, and phytochemical analysis. Experiments for different alkaloid-type content are proposed as a new tool for analysis of plant distribution. Several plants were transplanted for weekly observation of their phenological changes, and alkaloids from different plant organs were extracted, listed, and compared. The alkaloid pattern of L. martinezii comprises 49 compounds of homolycorine, lycorine, tazettine, haemantamine, and narciclasine types. The populations located in the north and south margins of the distribution area displayed alkaloid patterns different from those of the central area. Changes in these patterns during their phenological cycle may be related to a better defence for plant reproduction. L. martinezii is an old relict plant, and it has maintained some of the more primitive morphological features and alkaloid profiles of the Mediterranean Amaryllidaceae. The variations in alkaloid content observed could be interpreted in a phylogenetic sense, and those found in their phenological changes, in an adaptive one.
authors.affiliation: Torretes Field Station-Botanical Garden, Biodiversity Institute CIBIO, University of Alicante, ES-03690 San Vicente del Raspeig. rios_ruiz_segundo@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Segundo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ríos
authors.forename: Strahil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berkov
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martínez-Francés
authors.forename: Jaume
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bastida
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D019668:Liliaceae / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids
keywords: Alkaloids; Chemotaxonomy; Lapiedra martinezii