Cuticular wax coverage and composition differ among organs of Taraxacum officinale.

Primary plant surfaces are coated with hydrophobic cuticular waxes to minimize non-stomatal water loss. Wax compositions differ greatly between plant species and, in the few species studied systematically so far, also between organs, tissues, and developmental stages. However, the wax mixtures of more species in diverse plant families must be investigated to assess overall wax variability, and ultimately to correlate organ-specific composition with local water barrier properties. Here, we present comprehensive analyses of the waxes covering five organs of Taraxacum officinale (dandelion), to help close a gap in our understanding of wax chemistry in the Asteraceae family. First, novel wax constituents of the petal wax were identified as C 6,8- and 8,10-ketols as well as C 6,8- and 8,10-ketols. Nine other component classes (fatty acids, primary alcohols, esters, aldehydes, alkanes, triterpenols, triterpene acetates, sterols, and tocopherols) were detected in the wax mixtures covering leaves, peduncles, and petals, as well as fruit beaks and pappi. Wax coverages varied from 5 μg/cm on peduncles to 37 μg/cm on petals. Alcohols predominated in leaf wax, while both alcohols and alkanes were found in similar amounts on peduncles and petals, and mainly alkanes on the fruit beaks and pappi. Chain length distributions within the wax compound classes were similar between organs, centered around C for fatty acids, alcohols, and aldehydes, and C for alkanes. However, the quantities of homologs with longer chain lengths varied substantially between organs, reaching well beyond C on all surfaces except leaves, suggesting differences in elongation enzymes determining the alkyl chain structures. The detailed wax profiles presented here will serve as basis for future investigations into wax biosynthesis in the Asteraceae and into wax functions on different dandelion organs.