Comprehensive untargeted metabolomics of Lychnnophorinae subtribe (Asteraceae: Vernonieae) in a phylogenetic context

PLoS One. 2018 Jan 11;13(1):e0190104. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190104. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Members of the subtribe Lychnophorinae occur mostly within the Cerrado domain of the Brazilian Central Plateau. The relationships between its 11 genera, as well as between Lychnophorinae and other subtribes belonging to the tribe Vernonieae, have recently been investigated upon a phylogeny based on molecular and morphological data. We report the use of a comprehensive untargeted metabolomics approach, combining HPLC-MS and GC-MS data, followed by multivariate analyses aiming to assess the congruence between metabolomics data and the phylogenetic hypothesis, as well as its potential as a chemotaxonomic tool. We analyzed 78 species by UHPLC-MS and GC-MS in both positive and negative ionization modes. The metabolic profiles obtained for these species were treated in MetAlign and in MSClust and the matrices generated were used in SIMCA for hierarchical cluster analyses, principal component analyses and orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis. The results showed that metabolomic analyses are mostly congruent with the phylogenetic hypothesis especially at lower taxonomic levels (Lychnophora or Eremanthus). Our results confirm that data generated using metabolomics provide evidence for chemotaxonomical studies, especially for phylogenetic inference of the Lychnophorinae subtribe and insight into the evolution of the secondary metabolites of this group.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Asteraceae / classification
  • Asteraceae / metabolism*
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Metabolomics*
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Phylogeny*
  • Principal Component Analysis

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (http://www.fapesp.br/) (grants 2010/51454-3 J.R.P. and L.G.N. and 2012/16646-4 M.E.P.M.), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (http://cnpq.br/) (grant 471615/2013-7 - L.G.N.) and Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung (https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/home.html) L.G.N. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.