Le polymorphisme chimique dans le genre Thymus: sa Signification taxonomique

doi:10.1016/0305-1978(77)90024-2

Biochemical Systematics and Ecology

Volume 5, Issue 4, 1977, Pages 269-272

https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-1978(77)90024-2 Get rights and content

Résumé

On a étudié le polymorphisme chimique chez onze espèces du genre Thymus L., spontanées en France et en Espagne. Il semble que les espéces endémiques des régions xérophytiques du SE Espagnol soient chimiquement assez homogènes et que le polymorphisme chimique s'accroit avec l'extension de l'aire géographique vers les régions plus septentrionales au climat plus diversifié. Cette évolution chimique des espéces, parallèle aà l'évolution morphologique décrite dans la littérature, semble en relation avec la philogénie du genre.

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Cited by (76)

Intra-population terpene polymorphism of Thymus pulegioides L.: Evidence for seven chemotypes in a German limestone grassland
2020, Biochemical Systematics and Ecology
Citation Excerpt :
As particularly common in Lamiaceae, also in thyme, chemotypes occur, being genetically determined and characterised by differing composition of essential oils (Sáez and Stahl-Biskup, 2002; Ložienė and Venskutonis, 2005). In T. vulgaris for example, seven chemotypes have been described (Granger and Passet, 1973; Adzet et al., 1977; Keefover-Ring, 2009) and later an eight plus some mixed chemotypes, following a re-analysis based on enantiomeric analysis, adding to more than 20 chemotypes (Satyal et al., 2016). In T. pulegioides, studies on chemotype diversity report one (Salgueiro et al., 1993; De Martino et al., 2009; Pavel et al., 2010; Ibrahimi et al., 2014; Stojanović et al., 2014) to five different chemotypes (Mártonfi, 1992; Mártonfi et al., 1994; Ložienė et al., 2003; Mockute and Bernotiene, 2003, 2005; Groendahl et al., 2008; Weglarz et al., 2009; Vaičiulytė et al., 2016b; Buzuk et al., 2017), adding up to 9 chemotypes in Lithuania, the highest reported chemotype diversity per country, but also the country with the most studies on T. pulegioides chemotypes (Mockute and Bernotiene, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005; Ložienė et al., 2002, 2003; Vaičiulytė et al., 2016b) and up to 20 chemotypes (including mixed ones) in the whole species distribution area from Norway to Italy and Portugal (Wiesner and Novák, 1984; Stahl-Biskup, 1986; Salgueiro et al., 1993; Sáez and Stahl-Biskup, 2002; Ložienė et al., 2003; Mockute and Bernotiene, 2005; Groendahl et al., 2008; Michet et al., 2008; Weglarz et al., 2009; Pluhár et al., 2012; Sárosi et al., 2012; Šoštarić, 2012).
For Thymus pulegioides L. (Lamiaceae), occurring in almost entire Europe, about 20 different essential oil chemotypes are described in approximately 25 studies. However, only few studies mention chemotype diversity on population level, describing up to five chemotypes growing together. The aim of the study was to investigate the chemotype diversity within one T. pulegioides population of a limestone grassland in Germany. Essential oil compounds from samples of 93 thyme cushions were extracted with solid phase extraction (SPE) and analysed by GC-MS. Cluster analysis and nonmetric multi-dimensional scaling (NMDS) of the samples’ essential oil composition revealed the existence of seven different chemotypes: linalyl acetate-chemotype (56 individuals), geraniol-citral-linalyl acetate-chemotype (5), geraniol-citral-chemotype (7), thymol-chemotype (8), carvacrol-chemotype (2), linalool-chemotype (1), and β-caryophyllene-germacrene D-β-bisabolene-chemotype (14). The pattern of major monoterpenes from all chemotypes could be explained by the inhibition of specific steps in monoterpene biosynthesis. The sesquiterpene-dominant chemotype might be caused by a block in a very early step of monoterpene production or a regulatory/channeling mechanism. While the geraniol-citral-linalyl acetate-chemotype has been found for the first time, the other chemotypes have been found in other regions and the β-caryophyllene-germacrene D-β-bisabolene-type is similar to other sesquiterpene chemotypes rarely found in other areas. The large intra-population chemical polymorphism in this study raises questions about the chemotype diversity of thyme in other regions of Germany and potential correlations between essential oil composition and abiotic factors or biotic interactions.
Differentiating Thymus vulgaris chemotypes with ISSR molecular markers
2020, Biochemical Systematics and Ecology
Citation Excerpt :
The main volatile oil components were geraniol, limalool, α-terpineol, thujanol-4, thymol and carvacrol. Later another chemotype was also identified with 1,8-cineol main component (Adzet et al., 1977). Gouyon et al. (1986) showed that there is a tight correlation between the soil type, most precisely the moisture and chemotype structure of thyme populations.
Common thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) is a Mediterranean evergreen shrub of the Lamiaceae that shows chemical polymorphism in its natural populations. In Mediterranean habitats six basic chemotypes have been described according to the main component in its essential oil: thymol, carvacrol, linalool, geraniol, α-terpineol, thuyanol-4, of which the thymol chemotype is widely used in cultivation and as a spice. In this study ten selected clones were analysed in terms of chemical composition of the volatile oil and genetic fingerprint. The study question was whether individual chemotypes can be distinguished by molecular markers. Chemical composition was analysed by GC-MS, and for assessing the genetic polymorphism ISSR marker system was chosen as it is reliable and easy to use even in case of less studied species. The studied T. vulgaris clones represented five different chemotypes and could be distinguished using 12 ISSR primers. Clones belonging to the thymol chemotype showed the most distinct separation. The study shows the potential of using molecular markers in breeding and selection of T. vulgaris, being able to differentiate different chemotypes.
Influence of harvesting time on composition of the essential oil of Thymus capitatus (L.) Hoffmanns. & Link. growing wild in northern Sicily and its activity on microorganisms affecting historical art crafts
2019, Arabian Journal of Chemistry
Citation Excerpt :
The only exceptions are the population of Alcamo containing minor quantity of carvacrol (48.9%) and larger amount of γ-terpinene (7.1%) and p-cymene (19.1%) and the population of Galati Mamertino which is practically devoid of carvacrol (2.7%) but quite rich of thymol (16.1%), γ-terpinene (10.4%) and p-cymene (40.4%). It is noteworthy that our three oils are completely devoid of thymol according to the studies that demonstrate that the composition of the essential oil depends on plant type, geographical location and collection time (Adzet et al., 1977; Circella et al., 1995; Hornok, 1988; Senatore, 1996; Vidic et al., 2010). As previously stated, chemotypes thymol, thymol-carvacrol, and carvacrol have been described for T. capitatus (Karousou et al., 2005; Miceli et al., 2006; Bounatirou et al., 2007) and our population clearly belongs to the last one.
One of the main factors affecting historical art crafts material is the biodeterioration performed by bacteria and fungi, in archives, museums or private collections. Several microorganisms cause degradation to the natural organic material such as fibers, woods, and dyes as well as to stone objects. These alterations produce deterioration of physical, chemical, mechanical and esthetic properties. Consequently, in this publication, we report the high antibacterial and antifungal activities of wild thyme essential oil, oil that can be used as an alternative natural tool in the fight against microorganisms affecting historical art crafts.
Essential oil of the Thymus capitatus growing wild in northern Sicily has been extracted by hydrodistillation from aerial parts collected at different growth times. The constituents of the essential oil have been characterized by gas chromatography (GC) and GC–mass spectrometry.
Fifty-five compounds have been identified. Essential oils were characterized by a high content of carvacrol (81.2–14.2%), γ-terpinene (34.4–2.6%) and p-cymene (22.8–5.0%) of the total oil content. Essential oil yield and composition vary throughout the vegetation time of the plant. The best time to harvest this species of thyme, for phenol content, is during or immediately before the full bloom. The related oils (Tc2 and Tc3) showed a good antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus epidermidis and excellent antifungal properties against Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus niger.
Chemotypes and terpene synthase genes in Thymus genus: State of the art
2018, Industrial Crops and Products
Citation Excerpt :
Research on T. vulgaris resulted in more than one hundred and twenty papers dealing with essential oils, published since 2000. The seven different chemotypes in this species have been characterized as thymol, carvacrol, linalool, geraniol, thujanol-4, terpineol and 1,8-cineole (Adzet et al., 1977; Torras et al., 2007). Most authors consider the existence of these seven chemotypes but there are some recent publications that have a different approach, proposing the occurrence of twenty chemotypes, based on the enantiomeric analysis (Satyal et al., 2016), or using solvent extracts, instead of essential oils, for chemotype determination (Keefover-Ring et al., 2009).
Aromatic plants belonging to the Lamiaceae have been used in folk medicine as well as flavouring herbs. This family includes numerous species which are rich in essential oils, that have been studied from both the volatiles point of view and using molecular tools. Thymus is one important genus from this family, comprising about 215 species, whose essential oils have been used by the pharmaceutical industry given their biological activities, namely antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer activities. Essential oils are composed of a mixture of monoterpenes, among other constituents. Terpenoids show high structural variability and over 23.000 different metabolites are known. The occurrence of chemotypes in selected thymus species is listed and organized, and the concept of chemotype is addressed. A multiple approach, considering multivariate analysis of essential oil components and their metabolic relationship, is proposed for chemotype determination. Terpene synthase genes are described, with particular emphasis to the monoterpene synthases, its conserved motifs and features. The role of site directed mutagenesis and its contribution for understanding terpene synthases, revealing the role of some amino acids in the protein activity and final product synthesis is also explored. T. caespititius, a thyme species with carvacrol/thymol, α-terpineol chemotypes, among others, was chosen as an example to describe the state of the art on this topic. The high content of the phenolic monoterpenes makes this species interesting to explore as a source of compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Two γ-terpinene synthases were identified in this thyme species, revealing the existence of two isogenes, one isoform directed to the plastids and the other probably cytosolic, indicating the complexity of terpene synthesis. Functional analysis suggests the existence of additional levels of regulation that might involve direct temperature effect, regulating protein activity and thereby affecting the final product. This opens new layers of regulation that will undoubtedly bring complexity to essential oil composition on aromatic plants. In this review, data available both on essential oils characterization and on monoterpene synthase genes for Thymus species is summarized, stressing the importance of integrating molecular and biochemical data on chemotype determination.
Agronomic and phytochemical evaluation of lavandin and lavender cultivars cultivated in the Tyrrhenian area of Tuscany (Italy)
2017, Industrial Crops and Products
Citation Excerpt :
These factors explained the differences found in the EO analysis of the same species and cultivar grown in the same conditions (Menghini et al., 2013). The intraspecific variations are particularly frequent in the Lamiaceae family; in fact different chemotypes or genetically based types have been reported in Mentha citrata (Murray and Lincoln, 1970), Mentha spicata (Kokkini and Vokou, 1989), Origanum vulgare (Vokou et al., 1993), Rosmarinus officinalis (Lakušié et al., 2013), Salvia fruticosa (Karousou et al., 1998) and in the Thymus genus (Adzet et al., 1977; Thomson et al., 2003; Stahl-Biskup and Sáez, 2002; Thompson, 2002) as well as in Lavandula genus. Most of the lavender production is concentrated in France and Bulgaria, but many other European countries, Italy included, have a significant production.
This study aimed to evaluate the possibility to organically cultivate lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Miller) and lavandin (Lavandula hybrida Reverchon), under the pedo-climatic conditions of central Italy. So, the growth and productive parameters as well as the essential oil content and composition of one lavender cultivar (Mailette) and three lavandin cultivars (Sumiens, Super A and Grosso) were assessed through 2-year field experiment (2014 and 2015 growing season). The results showed that the cold sensitivity of both lavender and lavandin plants decreased with ageing. Along the two years of cultivation, stem and inflorescences yields remained stable, and the lavandin cultivar Super A showed always the higher yields in comparison with the other varieties. A slight increase of essential oil (EO) yield was observed for the three cultivars of lavandin during the second year of experiment (2015), while the EO yield of lavender showed a slight decrease. The composition of these essential oils highlighted an important variation which affected all the classes of compounds, except for oxygenated monoterpenes (OM). The antioxidant capacity of EOs was also evaluated and the obtained results pointed out as the growing season was an important factor in influencing the antioxidant capacity of EOs of these aromatic plants.
Essential Oils from Mediterranean Aromatic Plants
2015, The Mediterranean Diet: An Evidence-Based Approach
Essential oils are natural products characterized by a strong odor and formed by aromatic plants as secondary metabolites. The features differentiating these aromatic plants from all others, in spite of the fact that they belong to many different families, are the production of chemically related secondary compounds, the low molecular weight, and the presence of volatile isoprenoids. We studied the composition of 12 Mediterranean essential oils, evaluating their antibacterial, antifungal, mutagenic, antioxidative, and cytotoxic properties, and we also evaluated their possible properties for use in agricultural practices. The nutraceutical characteristics of aromatic plants are discussed.

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PlantLe polymorphisme chimique dans le genre Thymus: sa Signification taxonomique

Résumé

Phytochemistry

La France et ses Parfums

Thèse Doct. Sci. Nat.

Plantes med. Phytothérapie

Riv. Ital. Eppos

Plantes med. Phytothérapie

Congrés Internat. Soc. Pharm.

Plant
Le polymorphisme chimique dans le genre Thymus: sa Signification taxonomique