Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), Córdoba, Argentina.
Cátedra de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (FCEFyN), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), Córdoba, Argentina.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 27;13(1):12165. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-39358-1.
Essential oils produced by medicinal plants possess important bioactive properties (antibacterial, antioxidant) of high value for human society. Pollination and herbivory can modify the chemical defences of plants and therefore they may influence the bioactivity of essential oils. However, the effect of ecological interactions on plant bioactivity has not yet been evaluated. We tested the hypothesis that cross-pollination and simulated herbivory modify the chemical composition of essential oils, improving the bioactive properties of the medicinal plant Lepechinia floribunda (Lamiaceae). Through controlled experiments, we showed that essential oils from the outcrossed plant progeny had a higher relative abundance of oxygenated terpenes and it almost doubled the bacteriostatic effect on Staphylococcus aureus, compared to inbred progeny (i.e., progeny produced in absence of pollinators). Herbivory affected negatively and positively the production of rare compounds in inbred and outcrossed plants, respectively, but its effects on bioactivity still remain unknown. We show for the first time that by mediating cross-pollination (indirect ecosystem service), pollinators can improve ecosystem services linked to the biological activity of plant's essential oils. We stress the importance of the qualitative component of pollination (self, cross); an aspect usually neglected in studies of pollination services.
药用植物产生的精油具有重要的生物活性（抗菌、抗氧化），对人类社会具有很高的价值。传粉和取食会改变植物的化学防御，因此它们可能会影响精油的生物活性。然而，生态相互作用对植物生物活性的影响尚未得到评估。我们检验了这样一个假设，即异花授粉和模拟取食会改变精油的化学组成，从而改善药用植物 Lepechinia floribunda（唇形科）的生物活性。通过控制实验，我们表明，与自交后代（即在没有传粉者的情况下产生的后代）相比，异交植物后代的精油中含氧萜烯的相对丰度更高，对金黄色葡萄球菌的抑菌效果几乎增加了一倍。取食对自交和异交植物中稀有化合物的产生都有负面影响和积极影响，但它对生物活性的影响仍不清楚。我们首次表明，通过介导异花授粉（间接生态系统服务），传粉者可以提高与植物精油生物活性相关的生态系统服务。我们强调了传粉（自花、异花）质量组成的重要性，这是传粉服务研究中通常被忽视的一个方面。
