A Six-Year Study of Flavonoid Distribution in a Population of Lasthenia Californica (Asteraceae)

Differential responses to Na+/K+ and Ca2+/Mg2+ in two edaphic races of the Lasthenia californica (Asteraceae) complex: A case for parallel evolution of physiological traits

“…Our findings on the putatively parallel physiological changes in edaphic races of L. californica sensu lato raise questions about an intriguing correlation between ion physiology and flavonoid chemistry. The primary feature that distinguishes race A from race C plants is the flavonoid pigment profile; race A contains sulfated compounds, namely sulfated kaempferol and quercetin diglycosides plus prominent eriodictyol glycosides (Bohm et al, 1974(Bohm et al, , 1989Desrochers & Bohm, 1993) not found in race C plants. Marine, alkaline and serpentine habitats are high in sulfates and it is tempting to suggest that sulfation of flavonoids may be beneficial in such environments, as a means of detoxifying excess sulfate.…”

“…These negatively charged sulfated flavonoids may play a role similar to that of sulfur containing glucosinolates in providing tolerance to excess metal ions (Mathys, 1977) or in providing ionic balance in light of excess cations such as those found in race A habitats. Thus, we recently hypothesized an edaphically linked ecological role for flavonoid differences (N. Rajakaruna et al, unpublished) that first suggested the existence of these two races (Bohm et al, 1989).…”

The Lasthenia Californica Story: It Started with Flavonoids

“…The results are shown in the following sequence of plant pigment types starting at the 44 meter mark: …C 44 CCCCCCCACB 45 AAAAAAAAAA 46 AAAAC AAAAC 47 ACAAAAAAAA 48 AAA…The transitional zone is underlined. Two additional type C plants were observed beyond meter 48; the remainder was type A [11].…”

“…A comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Lasthenia using ITS/ETS/cpDNA markers revealed the Evolutionary aspects of Lasthenia californica Natural Product Communications Vol. 1 (11) 2006 1019 existence of two geographically-based, non-sister clades [28][29][30][31]. The authors of that work recognized the two clades as cryptic taxa: L. californica subsp.…”

“…During the course of most of the surveys of Lasthenia species summarized above, we observed differences in pigment profiles within several of them suggesting Evolutionary aspects of Lasthenia californica Natural Product Communications Vol. 1 (11) 2006 1015 that within-population as well as between-population variation might be factors that should be examined in a more systematic fashion [9]. For the initial study we chose to examine pigment patterns in the northern Californian taxon L. burkei [10].…”