TY - JOUR
T1 - Highly Species-Specific Foliar Metabolomes of Diverse Woody Species and Relationships with the Leaf Economics Spectrum
AU - Schweiger, Rabea
AU - Sois, Luca Da
AU - Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi
AU - Müller, Caroline
AU - Castells Caballe, Eva
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/3/13
Y1 - 2021/3/13
N2 - Plants show an extraordinary diversity in chemical composition and are characterized by different functional traits. However, relationships between the foliar primary and specialized metabolism in terms of metabolite numbers and composition as well as links with the leaf economics spectrum have rarely been explored. We investigated these relationships in leaves of 20 woody species from the Mediterranean region grown as saplings in a common garden, using a comparative ecometabolomics approach that included (semi-)polar primary and specialized metabolites. Our analyses revealed significant positive correlations between both the numbers and relative composition of primary and specialized metabolites. The leaf metabolomes were highly species-specific but in addition showed some phylogenetic imprints. Moreover, metabolomes of deciduous species were distinct from those of evergreens. Significant relationships were found between the primary metabolome and nitrogen content and carbon/nitrogen ratio, important traits of the leaf economics spectrum, ranging from acquisitive (mostly deciduous) to conservative (evergreen) leaves. A comprehensive understanding of various leaf traits and their coordination in different plant species may facilitate our understanding of plant functioning in ecosystems. Chemodiversity is thereby an important component of biodiversity.
AB - Plants show an extraordinary diversity in chemical composition and are characterized by different functional traits. However, relationships between the foliar primary and specialized metabolism in terms of metabolite numbers and composition as well as links with the leaf economics spectrum have rarely been explored. We investigated these relationships in leaves of 20 woody species from the Mediterranean region grown as saplings in a common garden, using a comparative ecometabolomics approach that included (semi-)polar primary and specialized metabolites. Our analyses revealed significant positive correlations between both the numbers and relative composition of primary and specialized metabolites. The leaf metabolomes were highly species-specific but in addition showed some phylogenetic imprints. Moreover, metabolomes of deciduous species were distinct from those of evergreens. Significant relationships were found between the primary metabolome and nitrogen content and carbon/nitrogen ratio, important traits of the leaf economics spectrum, ranging from acquisitive (mostly deciduous) to conservative (evergreen) leaves. A comprehensive understanding of various leaf traits and their coordination in different plant species may facilitate our understanding of plant functioning in ecosystems. Chemodiversity is thereby an important component of biodiversity.
KW - Chemodiversity
KW - Deciduous versus evergreen
KW - Leaf economics spectrum
KW - Leaf habit
KW - Med-iterranean
KW - Metabolite richness
KW - Metabolomics
KW - Primary metabolites
KW - Specialized metabolites
KW - Species comparison
UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10030644
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103862757&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/997612a8-77ae-30c7-9919-560a86c783e7/
U2 - 10.3390/cells10030644
DO - 10.3390/cells10030644
M3 - Article
C2 - 33805842
VL - 10
SP - 1
EP - 19
JO - Cells
JF - Cells
SN - 2073-4409
IS - 3
M1 - 644
ER -