title: Effect of the environment on the secondary metabolic profile of Tithonia diversifolia: a model for environmental metabolomics of plants.
abstract: Tithonia diversifolia is an invasive weed commonly found in tropical ecosystems. In this work, we investigate the influence of different abiotic environmental factors on the plant's metabolite profile by multivariate statistical analyses of spectral data deduced by UHPLC-DAD-ESI-HRMS and NMR methods. Different plant part samples of T. diversifolia which included leaves, stems, roots, and inflorescences were collected from two Brazilian states throughout a 24-month period, along with the corresponding monthly environmental data. A metabolomic approach employing concatenated LC-MS and NMR data was utilised for the first time to study the relationships between environment and plant metabolism. A seasonal pattern was observed for the occurrence of metabolites that included sugars, sesquiterpenes lactones and phenolics in the leaf and stem parts, which can be correlated to the amount of rainfall and changes in temperature. The distribution of the metabolites in the inflorescence and root parts were mainly affected by variation of some soil nutrients such as Ca, Mg, P, K and Cu. We highlight the environment-metabolism relationship for T. diversifolia and the combined analytical approach to obtain reliable data that contributed to a holistic understanding of the influence of abiotic environmental factors on the production of metabolites in various plant parts.
authors.affiliation: AsterBioChem Team, Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo. Av. do Café s/n, Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14040-903, Brazil.|Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde. 161 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, G4 0RE, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Bruno Leite
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Sampaio
authors.affiliation: Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde. 161 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, G4 0RE, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: RuAngelie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Edrada-Ebel
authors.affiliation: AsterBioChem Team, Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo. Av. do Café s/n, Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14040-903, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando Batista
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Da Costa
mesh_terms: D019659:Asteraceae / Q000378:metabolism*; D001938:Brazil; D007783:Lactones / Q000378:metabolism; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D055442:Metabolome / Q000502:physiology*; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000378:metabolism; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000378:metabolism; D057685:Plant Weeds / Q000378:metabolism; D064210:Secondary Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000378:metabolism; D012987:Soil; D000073893:Sugars / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007783:Lactones; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; D012987:Soil; D000073893:Sugars