Compositae Plants Differed in Leaf Cuticular Waxes between High and Low Altitudes

Abstract

We sampled eight Compositae species at high altitude (3482 m) and seven species at low altitude (220 m), analyzed the chemical compositions and contents of leaf cuticular wax, and calculated the values of average chain length (ACL), carbon preference index (CPI), dispersion (d), dispersion/weighted mean chain length (d/N), and C31 /(C31 + C29 ) (Norm31). The amounts of total wax and compositions were significantly higher at high altitude than at low altitude, except for primary alcohol, secondary alcohol, and ketone. The main n-alkanes in most samples were C31 , C29 , and C33 . Low altitude had more C31 and C33 , whereas more C29 occurred at high altitude. The ACL, CPI, d, d/N, and Norma 31 were higher at low altitude than at high altitude. The fatty acid and primary alcohol at low altitude contained more C26 homologous than at high altitude. More short-chain primary alcohols were observed at high altitude. At low altitude, the primary alcohol gave on average the largest amount, while it was n-alkane at high altitude. These results indicated that the variations of leaf cuticular waxes benefited Compositae plants to adapt to various environmental stresses and enlarge their distribution.

Keywords: Altitude; Compositae; Cuticular wax; Environment; Variability.