Chemophenetic Approach to Selected Senecioneae Species, Combining Morphometric and UHPLC-HRMS Analyses

Area of Science:

• Plant Taxonomy and Phylogenetics
• Chemotaxonomy
• Metabolomics

Background:

• The Senecioneae tribe contains numerous species with complex taxonomic relationships.
• Understanding phylogenetic connections is crucial for accurate plant classification and evolutionary studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the chemophenetic significance and phylogenetic relationships among five species from the genera Senecio and Jacobaea.
• To correlate morphological data with phenolic metabolite profiles.

Main Methods:

• Morphometric characterization of five species (Senecio hercynicus, S. ovatus, S. rupestris, Jacobaea pancicii, J. maritima).
• Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) for morphometric data.
• Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS) for phenolic metabolite profiling.
• Hierarchical clustering and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for phytochemical data.

Main Results:

• Linear discriminant analysis correctly classified 97.3% of individuals based on morphometric data.
• Senecio hercynicus and S. ovatus exhibited the highest morphological similarity.
• Phytochemical analysis identified 46 hydroxybenzoic, hydroxycinnamic, and acylquinic acids, 1 coumarin, and 21 flavonoids.
• Phytochemical clustering corroborated the morphological similarity between S. hercynicus and S. ovatus.

Conclusions:

• Morphological and chemophenetic data support the close relationship between S. hercynicus and S. ovatus.
• The study provides insights into the phylogenetic relationships within the Senecioneae tribe.
• Chemotaxonomic markers can be valuable in distinguishing and grouping related plant species.