A chemistry overview of the beautiful miniature forest known as mosses

Abstract

The bryophytes are the second largest group of land plants and are represented by three lineages: Marchantyophyta (liverworts), Anthocerotophyta (hornworts), and Bryophyta (mosses). They occupy a wide variety of habitats, from deserts to Antarctica, and exercise great ecological importance. These facts and their wide use in traditional medicine raise the question of what is known about moss chemistry. This paper gathered studies from the last 52 years about the compounds identified in mosses, aiming to address the following questions: Are mosses chemically under-studied? How many families, genera, and species of mosses have been chemically studied? Which continent and countries have been responsible for the majority of these studies? A literature search was performed in major scientific databases, using a combination of keywords. A total of 199 papers were compiled, of which 45% were published during the last decade. Only a small percentage of moss species has been studied, mostly from Europe and Asia. Dicranales and Hypnales are the most studied orders. In general, fatty acids and flavonoids are the most commonly reported classes of compounds. Biflavonoids and triflavonoids are detected mainly in derived clades of mosses, while coumarins are most reported for basal groups. Akthough only a small percentage of moss species has been chemically studied, most of these studies were published in the last decade—there has been a 135% increase in the number of reported compounds in the last 13 years. The emergence of new equipment, which can produce high-resolution spectra with small amounts of sample, combined with bioinformatics tools, has undoubtedly contributed to the increase of chemical investigation of mosses. Also, advances in the identification and phylogenetics of moss groups are contributing to a better understanding of them generally, which should lead also to increased study of moss chemistry.

Chemical diversity of Brittonodoxa subpinnata, a Brazilian native species of moss

“…This ability to generate multimeric forms of flavonoids is considered a higher-evolved character in mosses, where the most basal groups only produce monoflavonoids. 1,3 The presence of flavonoids might also indicate protection against the stressful environmental conditions. This class of compounds, especially ones with catechol moiety, act as ROS-scavenging by mainly capturing reactive oxygen species produce during oxidative stress.…”

“…This ability to generate multimeric forms of flavonoids is considered a higher-evolved character in mosses, where the most basal groups only produce monoflavonoids. 1,3…”

“…From a broad chemotaxonomic perspective considering Hypnales, the absence of mono and diterpenoids, and mainly alkaloids in B. subpinnata are noticed in comparison to some species in the order. 3 Few chemical researches within Sematophyllaceae can be found, with only three species studied up to date and only primary metabolites being annotated. [64][65][66] species and performed the writing -review and editing.…”

“…1 Plant's metabolism can be subdivided into primary, synthesizing compounds vital for the survivor, such as sugars, lipids, and proteins, and secondary, compounds with a multitude of functions for growth, development, and interaction with the environment. 2 In a review made by Sala-Carvalho et al, 3 199 papers regarding moss chemistry were surveyed. These articles reported the investigation of the composition of 376 species of 154 genera, of more than 12 000 species and 1070 genera discovered.…”

“…In a review made by Sala-Carvalho et al , 3 199 papers regarding moss chemistry were surveyed. These articles reported the investigation of the composition of 376 species of 154 genera, of more than 12 000 species and 1070 genera discovered.…”