Do Fungicides Affect Alkaloid Production in (L.) G. Don. Seedlings?

The presence of endophytes in plants is undeniable, but how significant their involvement is in the host plant biosynthetic pathways is still unclear. The results reported from fungicide treatments in plants varied. Fungicide treatment in was found to decrease the taxol content. In , Pronto Plus and Folicur treatments coincided with the disappearance of ergot alkaloids from the plant. In cv. Carlton, a mixture of fungicide applications decreased the alkaloids concentration and altered the carbohydrate metabolism. plants treated with Folicur reduced the pyrrolizidine alkaloids content. There have not been any studies into the involvement of endophytic fungi on alkaloids production of until now. Though there is a report on the isolation of the endophytic fungi, from , which was reported to produce vinblastine and vincristine in vitro. To detect possible collaborations between these two different organisms, fungicides were applied to suppress the endophytic fungi in seedlings and then measure the metabolomes by HNMR and HPLC analysis. The results indicate that endophytic fungi were not directly involved in alkaloids biosynthesis. Treatment with fungicides influenced both the primary and secondary metabolism of The systemic fungicides Pronto Plus and Folicur caused an increase in loganin and secologanin levels. In contrast, control samples had higher level of catharanthine and vindoline. This means that fungicide treatments cause changes in plant secondary metabolism.