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Ernst M, Nothias LF, van der Hooft JJJ, Silva RR, Saslis-Lagoudakis CH, Grace OM, Martinez-Swatson K, Hassemer G, Funez LA, Simonsen HT, Medema MH, Staerk D, Nilsson N, Lovato P, Dorrestein PC, Rønsted N. Assessing Specialized Metabolite Diversity in the Cosmopolitan Plant Genus Euphorbia L. Front Plant Sci 2019; 10:846. [PMID: 31333695 PMCID: PMC6615404 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2019] [Accepted: 06/13/2019] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Ernst
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Louis-Félix Nothias
- Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Justin J. J. van der Hooft
- Bioinformatics Group, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Ricardo R. Silva
- Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | | | - Olwen M. Grace
- Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Royal Botanic Gardens, Richmond, United Kingdom
| | - Karen Martinez-Swatson
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Gustavo Hassemer
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Botany, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
| | - Luís A. Funez
- Department of Botany, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
| | - Henrik T. Simonsen
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Marnix H. Medema
- Bioinformatics Group, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Dan Staerk
- Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Paola Lovato
- Front End Innovation, LEO Pharma A/S, Ballerup, Denmark
| | - Pieter C. Dorrestein
- Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Nina Rønsted
- Natural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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