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Horizontal Natural Product Transfer: A Novel Attribution in Allelopathy

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Co-Evolution of Secondary Metabolites

Part of the book series: Reference Series in Phytochemistry ((RSP))

Abstract

Whereas the translocation of allelochemicals between plants is well established for many years, a corresponding transfer of common, typical natural products was unknown until recently. This phenomenon was unveiled when the potential sources of contaminations of plant derived commodities by nicotine and pyrrolizidine alkaloids were analyzed thoroughly. According to this so-called Horizontal Natural Product Transfer, alkaloids, which are leached out from decomposing alkaloid containing plant parts (donor plants), are taken up by the roots of acceptor plants. Meanwhile, it becomes evident that not only alkaloids are taken up by acceptor plants but also phenolic compounds such as coumarins or stilbenes.

In analogy to the widespread uptake of xenobiotics, the uptake of natural products is also generally due to a simple diffusion of the substances across the biomembranes and does not require a transporter. The uptake of certain substances only depends on their physicochemical properties.

Contemporary analyses from co-cultivation experiments outlined that natural products are not exclusively transferred from dead and rotting donor plant material but also from living and vital plants. Moreover, the compounds imported are modified within the acceptor plants.

In this article, an actual overview on the phenomenon of “Horizontal Natural Product Transfer” is presented and its relevance for our understanding of plant-plant-interactions is discussed. The fact that common natural products are readily translocated from one plant into others will strongly change our understanding of allelopathy. Up to now, in plant-plant interactions only “classical allelochemicals” had been taken into consideration, e.g., those compounds that reveal certain and definite significance by inhibiting the growth or the germination of potential competitors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Plant Biology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany

    Dirk Selmar, Sara Abouzeid, Alzahraa Radwan, Tahani Hijazin, Mahdi Yahyazadeh, Laura Lewerenz, Melanie Nowak & Maik Kleinwächter

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  1. Dirk Selmar
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  2. Sara Abouzeid
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  3. Alzahraa Radwan
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  4. Tahani Hijazin
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  5. Mahdi Yahyazadeh
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  6. Laura Lewerenz
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  7. Melanie Nowak
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  8. Maik Kleinwächter
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Correspondence to Dirk Selmar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst.des Sci.de la Vigne et du Vin, Université de Bordeaux Inst.des Sci.de la Vigne et du Vin, Villenave d'Ornon, France

    Jean-Michel Merillon

  2. Botany Department, Mohanlal Sukhadia University Botany Department, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

    Kishan Gopal Ramawat

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Selmar, D. et al. (2018). Horizontal Natural Product Transfer: A Novel Attribution in Allelopathy. In: Merillon, JM., Ramawat, K.G. (eds) Co-Evolution of Secondary Metabolites. Reference Series in Phytochemistry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76887-8_10-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76887-8_10-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-76887-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-76887-8

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