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Expanding the laticifer knowledge in Cannabaceae: distribution, morphology, origin, and latex composition

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Abstract

Cannabaceae is a known family because of the production of cannabinoids in laticifers and glandular trichomes of Cannabis sativa. Laticifers are latex-secreting structures, which in Cannabaceae were identified only in C. sativa and Humulus lupulus. This study aimed to expand the knowledge of laticifers in Cannabaceae by checking their structural type and distribution, and the main classes of substances in the latex of Celtis pubescens, Pteroceltis tatarinowii, and Trema micrantha. Such information is also updated for C. sativa. Samples of shoot apices, stems, leaves, and flowers were processed for anatomical, histochemical, ultrastructural, and cytochemical analyses. Laticifers are articulated unbranched in all species instead of non-articulated as previously described for the family. They occur in all sampled organs. They are thick-walled, multinucleate, with a large vacuole and a peripheral cytoplasm. The cytoplasm is rich in mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, dictyosomes, ribosomes, and plastids containing starch grains and oil drops. Pectinase and cellulase activities were detected in the laticifer wall and vacuole, confirming its articulated origin, described by first time in the family. These enzymes promote the complete dissolution of the laticifer terminal walls. The latex contains proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides in addition to phenolics (C. sativa) and terpenes (C. pubescens, T. micrantha). The presence of laticifers with similar distribution and morphology supports the recent insertion of Celtis, Pteroceltis, and Trema in Cannabaceae. The articulated type of laticifer found in Cannabaceae, Moraceae, and Urticaceae indicates that the separation of these families by having distinct laticifer types should be reviewed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Edimárcio da Silva Campos (FCFRP/USP), Maria Dolores Seabra Ferreira, and José Augusto Maulin (FMRP/USP) for technical assistance and Elettra Greene for English review.

Funding

This work was supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) (process number 2014/07453-3, 2018/03691-8), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (process number 303493/2015-1; 156,025/2017-5), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) (code number 001).

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  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, R. Monteiro Lobato 255, Campinas, SP, 13083-862, Brazil

    Flávia Maria Leme

  2. Laboratório de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Cidade Universitária, Caixa Postal 549, Campo Grande, MS, 79070-900, Brazil

    Flávia Maria Leme

  3. Departamento de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. do Café, s/n, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14040-903, Brazil

    Flávia Maria Leme, Pedro Henrique Borella, Cristina Ribeiro Marinho & Simone Pádua Teixeira

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  1. Flávia Maria Leme
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Correspondence to Simone Pádua Teixeira.

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Leme, F.M., Borella, P.H., Marinho, C.R. et al. Expanding the laticifer knowledge in Cannabaceae: distribution, morphology, origin, and latex composition. Protoplasma 257, 1183–1199 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-020-01500-5

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