Morphological, chemical, and genetic diversity of Gypsophila L. (Caryophyllaceae) species and their potential use in the pharmaceutical industry

Authors: BARBARA KOLODZIEJ, SYLWIA OKON, ALEKSANDRA NUCIA, TOMASZ OCIEPA, KATARZYNA LUCHOWSKA, DANUTA SUGIER, RENETA GEVRENOVA, MAX HENRY

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphological, chemical, and genetic similarity of species belonging to the genus Gypsophila L. The analysis included 7 Gypsophila species with potential use in the pharmaceutical industry for saponin production. In order to assess the variation of the morphological traits, a number of morphological characteristics have been determined (including the number of lateral roots, diameter and total root length, average plant height, number of shoots and their diameter, number of branches on the shoot, length and width of leaves, and fresh and air-dried weight of aerial and underground parts of plants), while prosaponin content was determined as the chemical trait. Gypsogenin 3-O-glucuronide and quillaic acid 3-O-glucuronide were the dominant prosaponins determined in the Gypsophila roots (amounting up to 13.5 mg g^-1 dry extract in G. scorzonerifolia Ser. and 12.3 mg g^-1 dry extract in G. acutifolia Spreng., respectively). Moreover, a variation analysis at the molecular level was carried out based on the RAPD and ISSR methods. The conducted analysis showed that the most distinct species at the morphological, chemical, and genetic levels were G. paniculata L. and G. oldhamiana Miq.

Keywords: Gypsophila, biodiversity, molecular markers, saponins

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