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Screening and identification of phytotoxic volatile compounds in medicinal plants and characterizations of a selected compound, eucarvone

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Abstract

Screening and identification of phytotoxic volatile compounds were performed using 71 medicinal plant species to find new natural compounds, and the characterization of the promising compound was investigated to understand the mode of action. The volatile compounds from Asarum sieboldii Miq. showed the strongest inhibitory effect on the hypocotyl growth of lettuce seedlings (Lactuca sativa L.cv. Great Lakes 366), followed by those from Schizonepeta tenuifolia Briquet and Zanthoxylum piperitum (L.) DC.. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) identified four volatile compounds, α-pinene (2,6,6-trimethylbicyclo[3.1.1]hept-2-ene), β-pinene (6,6-dimethyl-2-methylenebicyclo[3.1.1]heptane), 3-carene (3,7,7-trimethylbicyclo[4.1.0]hept-3-ene), and eucarvone (2,6,6-trimethy-2,4-cycloheptadien-1-one), from A. sieboldii, and three volatile compounds, limonene (1-methyl-4-(1-methylethenyl)-cyclohexene), menthone (5-methyl-2-(propan-2-yl)cyclohexan-1-one), and pulegone (5-methyl-2-propan-2-ylidenecyclohexan-1-one), from S. tenuifolia. Among these volatile compounds, eucarvone, menthone, and pulegone exhibited strong inhibitory effects on both the root and shoot growth of lettuce seedlings. Eucarvone-induced growth inhibition was species-selective. Cell death, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and lipid peroxidation were induced in susceptible finger millet seedlings by eucarvone treatment, whereas this compound (≤158 μM) did not cause the increase of lipid peroxidation and ROS production in tolerant maize. The results of the present study show that eucarvone can have strong phytotoxic activity, which may be due to ROS overproduction and subsequent oxidative damage in finger millet seedlings.

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Abbreviations

DHE:

Dihydroethidium

DMSO:

Dimethyl sulfoxide

DW:

Distilled water

FDA:

Fluorescein diacetate

FID:

Flame ionization detector

GC:

Gas chromatography

GC-MS:

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

GR50 :

The dose required to cause a 50 % reduction in plant growth

OH·:

Hydroxyl radical

PI:

Propidium iodide

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Y. Fujii (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan) for his helpful suggestions. This work was partially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (No. 25450068) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate school of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Yukari Sunohara, Yohei Baba, Shigeru Matsuyama, Kaori Fujimura & Hiroshi Matsumoto

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  1. Yukari Sunohara
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  2. Yohei Baba
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  3. Shigeru Matsuyama
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  4. Kaori Fujimura
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  5. Hiroshi Matsumoto
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Correspondence to Yukari Sunohara.

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Handling Editor: Peter Nick

Yukari Sunohara and Yohei Baba contributed equally to this work.

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Sunohara, Y., Baba, Y., Matsuyama, S. et al. Screening and identification of phytotoxic volatile compounds in medicinal plants and characterizations of a selected compound, eucarvone. Protoplasma 252, 1047–1059 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-014-0739-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-014-0739-4

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