Unpredictable Chemical Diversity of Essential Oils in <i>Cinnamomum burmanni</i> (Lauraceae) Living Collections: Beyond Maternally Inherited Phylogenetic Relationships
Peiwu Xie,
Qiyi Yang,
Jielian Chen,
Tieyao Tu,
Huiming Lian,
Boxiang He,
Yanling Cai
Affiliations
Peiwu Xie
Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China
Qiyi Yang
State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany/Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Plant Conservation and Utilization in Southern China, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Jielian Chen
Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China
Tieyao Tu
State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops/Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany/Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Plant Conservation and Utilization in Southern China, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Huiming Lian
Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China
Boxiang He
Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China
Yanling Cai
Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou 510520, China
The genus Cinnamomum encompasses diverse species with various applications, particularly in traditional medicine and spice production. This study focuses on Cinnamomum burmanni, specifically on a high-D-borneol-content chemotype, known as the Meipian Tree, in Guangdong Province, South China. This research explores essential oil diversity, chemotypes, and chloroplast genomic diversity among 28 C. burmanni samples collected from botanical gardens. Essential oils were analyzed, and chemotypes classified using GC-MS and statistical methods. Plastome assembly and phylogenetic analysis were conducted to reveal genetic relationships. Results showed distinct chemotypes, including eucalyptol and borneol types, with notable variations in essential oil composition. The chloroplast genome exhibited conserved features, with phylogenetic analysis revealing three major clades. Borneol-rich individuals in clade II suggested a potential maternal inheritance pattern. However, phylogenetic signals revealed that the composition of essential oils is weakly correlated with plastome phylogeny. The study underscores the importance of botanical gardens in preserving genetic and chemical diversity, offering insights for sustainable resource utilization and selective breeding of high-yield mother plants of C. burmanni.
