The glandular trichomes of Solanaceous plants, including the genus Petunia, are major centers of secondary metabolite synthesis, storage, and secretion. Of the compounds produced in these trichomes, acylsugars are of particular interest because of their role in plant defense against insect attack. These acylsugars are derived from glucose or sucrose molecules by esterification of a variety of aliphatic esters on the sugar core, resulting from a multitude of metabolic tranformations of organic acids (Kroumova and Wagner 2003). Within Petunia, it has been made known that two major groups of acylsugars are produced, malonate acylsugars and neutral acylsugars. Extracts from the leaf tissue of Petunia axillaris were used to isolate acylsugars produced in the trichomes. Selective solid phase extraction (SPE) by anion exchange, malonate acylsugars were separated from neutral acylsugars. Semi-preparative HPLC was then used to further isolate individual metabolites. The structures of individual acysugars were then elucidated by time-of-flight mass spectrometry and various 2-D NMR techniques, resulting in a total of sixteen complete structures. From these structures patterns were observed that indicate the possibility of enzyme selectivity and chain elongation processes used in the synthesis of these metabolites.

Further defining acylsugar structural diversity within Petunia axillaris

249th National Meeting (2015)

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