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Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 937–947 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Phytochemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/phytochem Chemodiversity of exudate flavonoids in Dionysia (Primulaceae): A comparative study Karin M. Valant-Vetschera a,*, Tshering D. Bhutia a, Eckhard Wollenweber b a b Chemodiversity Research Group, Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Wien, Austria Botanisches Institut der TU Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 3, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 8 July 2009 Received in revised form 29 January 2010 Accepted 3 March 2010 Available online 8 April 2010 Keywords: Dionysia Primulaceae Exudate constituents: flavones, flavonols, flavanones Diversification Taxonomy and phylogeny a b s t r a c t More than 60 accessions of various Dionysia spp. were analysed for their exudate flavonoid composition. Many Dionysia spp. accumulate the typical Primula flavonoids with irregular substitution (unsubstituted flavone, its 20 ,50 -substituted derivatives and corresponding 5-OH-flavones), but flavones, flavonols and flavanones with regular 5,7-diOH-substitution are also encountered in their exudates. The formation of both types of flavonoids is not mutually exclusive. This paper analyses the chemodiversity of Dionysia exudates with respect to infraspecific variability, infrageneric distribution, patterns in hybrid taxa, and comparisons of biogenetic tendencies between Dionysia and closest related species of Primula. The uniqueness of occurrence of Primula-type flavonoids in the family Primulaceae, and their presumed different biosynthetic origin, suggest significance as further character in the Primula–Dionysia assemblage. Principal component analysis was applied to test the significance of variation of flavonoid composition across Dionysia. Comparative analysis of flavonoid profiles against the current taxonomic views yielded correlations, confined to the level of smaller groups, and only in parts at level of the current infrageneric concept. Flavonoid data are further discussed against the background of morphological and biogeographic differentiation of the genus. Increased diversification of flavonoid profiles may be interpreted as a derived status in Dionysia, which agrees with current views on the phylogeny of Dionysia as a specialised group within Primula. Functional aspects of exudate flavonoid formation are shortly addressed. Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction About 50 species are currently known under the generic name Dionysia, which according to recent molecular data, form a monophyletic group deeply nested within groups of the genus Primula (Mast et al., 2001; Trift et al., 2004). Even earlier views consider ‘‘Dionysia represents a blind alley in the scheme of evolution – it is more or less unsuccessful, but so far the best attempt of Primula to enter the domaine of the xeromorphs” (Wendelbo, 1961). This quotation refers to the growth habit of most of the Dionysias: fruticulose, loose or dense tufts and cushions, reduced leaves – all adaptations to grow under extreme conditions such as in vertical niches or overhanging cliff walls at higher altitudes. However, Dionysia spp. are not really xerophytic, but need a certain amount of water supply and shade that is provided in these niches (Wendelbo, 1961). Apart from the extreme growth form, typical characters of Dionysia are the base chromosome number of 10, the occurrence of polycolpate pollen, and the five-valved capsule, all uncommon in Primula (Trift et al., 2004). The distribution area is Irano-Turanian, with the majority of species found in the Zagros * Corresponding author. Tel.: +43 1 4277 54070; fax: +43 1 4277 9541. E-mail address: karin.vetschera@univie.ac.at (K.M. Valant-Vetschera). 0031-9422/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2010.03.004 Mountains, partly as endemics. The Iranian Alburz mountain range harbours fewer species, and others occur exclusively in Afghanistan. Only a few taxa extend into Turkey, Turkmenistan, Oman and Pakistan. Recently, the phylogeny of this genus was analysed by sequence data, which were not fully in accordance with morphological differentiations, and there is difficulty finding diagnostic characters that are related to the evolution of this genus (Trift et al., 2004). Analysis of leaf sclereid characters, combined with molecular and biogeographic data (Trift and Anderberg, 2006), gave the basis for a recent revision by Lidén (2007), who maintained Dionysia as a genus for convenience. The production of waxy or farinose coatings on aerial parts including the floral region is a major character of Dionysia and Primula. In Dionysia, farina may have either a woolly or powdery consistency, but some of the species are efarinose, a character sometimes used for infrageneric classification (Trift et al., 2004). In contrast to Primula, Dionysia leaves exhibit an aromatic smell (Melchior, 1943). In Primula, farina and oily exudates consist of unsubstituted flavone and some further biogenetically rare types of flavones (Valant-Vetschera et al., 2009 and references cited therein). Earlier, the presence of some of these flavones was reported in hydrolysates of some Primula and Dionysia species (Harborne, 1968, 1971). Whether the anti-tumour activity of the 938 K.M. Valant-Vetschera et al. / Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 937–947 Iranian medicinal plant Dionysia termeana Wendelbo is related to the presence of flavonoids, has not been specified (Zahra et al., 2007). Preliminary analyses of exudate flavonoid composition in Dionysia indicated chemical similarities to Primula exudates concerning major accumulation tendencies. Larger sampling, consisting in parts of the same material that was studied phylogenetically by Trift et al. (2002, 2004) and Trift and Anderberg (2006) became available for comparative studies at the infra- and interspecific level. The results are discussed in relation to morphological features and current taxonomic views, also with regard to the closely related genus Primula. 2. Results and discussion 2.1. Exudate flavonoid composition Sixty-seven accessions of Dionysia species including subspecies and some hybrid taxa have been analysed for the chemodiversity of exudate flavonoids. The species studied belong to different subgeneric units as described by Lidén (2007). Flavonoid data are summarized in Table 1, in which the species are arranged according to their position based on current phylogenetic data (Trift and Anderberg, 2006). Clades are marked as A, B, C, D, E, F, G and combinations there of, while section names and their abbreviations follow Lidén (2007). Details are explained in the legend to Table 1. This table also includes data on infraspecific variation in cases where several accessions per taxon were available. The formation of flavones with the irregular substitution pattern typical of Primula exudate flavonoids is also a general feature of Dionysia exudates. These flavonoids are marked as ‘‘Primula-type flavonoids” (in Table 1) and include one chalcone derivative (20 ,bdiOH-chalcone), further unsubstituted flavone, its 20 - and 50 -Osubstituted derivatives (5-deoxyflavones), and the structurally related 5-OH-flavones. Occasionally, typical Primula-structures such as 30 ,40 -di-OH-flavone, earlier reported from a few Dionysia spp. (Harborne, 1968, 1971), and some of its derivatives are accumulated in trace amounts. While 5-OH-flavone is found in most of the species, 5,8-diOH-flavone is of more restricted distribution, and corresponding 6-O-substituted derivatives have not been detected so far. Treatment of these flavones as a separate group (Table 1) is based upon their irregular substitution pattern suggesting a different biosynthetic origin (Valant-Vetschera et al., 2009; for structures see Fig. 1). The formation of flavonoid types with ‘‘regular” substitution pattern (i.e., 5,7-OH-substitution in Ring A; 3’ and/ or 40 -substitution in Ring B) in exudates of Dionysia therefore is remarkable. These substitution patterns characterise the occurring flavanones, flavones and flavonols, indicated separately in Table 1. It must be mentioned that both biosynthetic routes are expressed in single species (e.g., Dionysia diapensifolia Boiss.), thus being not mutually exclusive. Structural variation within flavanones and flavone derivatives of apigenin and luteolin is limited. Flavonols based upon quercetin and kaempferol occur rather infrequent, but their structural diversity is greater than that of corresponding flavones. A series of unidentified flavonoids (u1–u6 in Table 1) have been found in addition, but their structures could not be fully determined yet due to lack of material. Nevertheless, they have been included because of their informative value. Distribution of single flavonoids in exudates of Dionysia was quantified to be able to visualize the Dionysia flavonoid profile composition at large. Detected compounds were coded either as ‘‘1” (minor amounts) or ‘‘2” (large amounts). Occurrences were summarized and divided by the number of studied taxa, and calculated values were subsequently transformed to a bar chart as shown in Fig. 2. Unsubstituted flavone represents the main accumulation tendency in Dionysia exudates, followed by a series of the typical Primula-flavonoids. Regular substituted flavanones, flavones and flavonols are minor accumulation tendencies as are the yet unidentified flavonoids (u1–u6). 2.2. Infraspecific variation The stability of accumulation tendencies at the infraspecific level was studied in different taxonomic groups across the genus (Table 1). Plant source numbers appear in parentheses in the following text; for sources see Table 3. Only two accessions were available for comparison of exudate profiles of Dionysia esfandiarii Wendelbo (20, 21) and Dionysia mozaffarrianii Lidén (46, 47), which did not exhibit any differences. By contrast, those of Dionysia hausknechtii Bornm. et Strauss (51, 52), of Dionysia freitagii Wendelbo (7, 8), of Dionysia lamingtonii Stapf (55, 56) and of Dionysia paradoxa Wendelbo (38, 39) differed with respect to minor compounds. With exception of D. lamingtonii, all material originated from cultivation in Gothenburg Botanic Garden. Accession numbers 30–35 of Dionysia aretioides (Lehm.) Boiss. (cultivated material), proved to be quite stable, with only one of the six samples deviating lightly. Some variation was noted among six samples of Dionysia tapetodes Bunge (9–14), but also at a rather low level, and two samples coming from one clone being cultivated in different institutions, showed identical profiles (10, 11). Four out of five accessions of Dionysia archibaldii Wendelbo (15–18; all cultivated material) proved to be quite uniform, while one collection, which was received as Dionysia bazoftica (19; natural habitat), differed by production of 5,8,20 -substituted flavones and of 3 of the unknown compounds. D. bazoftica, earlier described by Jamzad (1996) was later considered to be synonym to D. archibaldii. Maybe the separation as a distinct taxonomic entity would be rectified, but certainly more material needs to be studied chemically and morphologically. Larger discrepancies were noted between the two collections of Dionysia microphylla Wendelbo (4, 5), concerning the formation of 5-OH-flavones and 3 of the unidentified compounds in one collection. This is the more remarkable since both collections are of the same clone (GWH-1302; Grey-Wilson, 1989), albeit cultivated in different institutions. Similarly, one accession of Dionysia michauxii (Duby) Boiss. (62) was found to accumulate the flavanone naringenin-7-Me in addition, while the other accession (63) yielded quercetin-7,30 ,40 -triMe together with u3, u5, and u6. Both accessions came from cultivation in the Gothenburg Botanic Garden, but material originated from different collections in the wild. The two collections of Dionysia teucrioides Davis et Wendelbo (27, 28) also yielded quite diversified profiles. They are supposed to be clones, being under cultivation in different institutions. The reasons for the observed variation even among clones are still obscure. It may only be speculated that culture conditions could play a role. It is known that Dionysia species are quite susceptible to fungal infections and also to insecticidal attack (GreyWilson, 1989). Thus, it is conceivable that some material was treated with chemicals which could affect the composition of exudates. It would be interesting to test material from the wild and their offsprings under controlled cultivation conditions, for better assessment of variation. On the other hand, Primula species exhibited stable exudate flavonoid profiles even when old herbarium material was analysed (Bhutia, pers. comm.). 2.3. Hybrid taxa Hybrid taxa are rarely observed to occur in nature due to geographic isolation (Grey-Wilson, 1989). Hybrids produced under cultivation frequently have D. aretioides as one parent species. The samples analysed now (Table 2) represent artificial crossings between species of sect. Dionysiopsis with those of sect. Dionysia- 939 K.M. Valant-Vetschera et al. / Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 937–947 Table 1 Distribution of exudate flavonoids in sections and clades of Dionysia. Source Clade Dionysia number Sectional alignment 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 A A BC BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BF BF BF BF BF Non-aligned (NA) Non-aligned (NA) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) 20 21 22 23 BF BF BF BF 24 BF 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BE BE BEG BEG 42 43 44 BEG BEG BEG 45 46 47 48 49 50 BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG 62 63 BEG BEG balsamea hissarica mira microphylla microphylla involucrata freitagii freitagii tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii (sub bazoftica) esfandiarii esfandiarii viva revoluta subsp. revoluta revoluta subsp. canescens oreodoxa rhaptodes teucrioides teucrioides bornmuelleri aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides khatamii janthina paradoxa paradoxa lurorum lurorum (sub aubrietioides) iranica caespitosa caespitosa subsp.bolivarii zagrica mozaffarrianii mozaffarrianii odora gaubae gaubae var. megalantha hausknechtii hausknechtii cristagalli zetterlundii lamingtonii lamingtonii termeana bryoides diapensifolia sarvestanica sarvestanica subsp. spathulata michauxii michauxii Primula-type flavones 20 ,bFlavone 20 -OH- 20 20 ,50 diOHflavone OMe- diOHchalcone flavone flavone t O t O O O O t O O O O O t O O O O O O t t t t O O O t O O t t Dionysiopsis (B-3) t t t O Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Zoroasteranthos (B-4) Zoroasteranthos (B-4) Non-aligned (NA) Non-aligned (NA) Mucida (B-5) Mucida (B-5) O O O t t O O Dionysiopsis Dionysiopsis Dionysiopsis Dionysiopsis (B-3) (B-3) (B-3) (B-3) Dionysia (B-6) Dionysia (B-6) Dionysia (B-6) Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) Dionysia (B-6) Dionysia (B-6) O t t t t t O O O O O O O O O 20 50 diOMeflavone O O t t t t t t O O O O O O O O 20 -OH-50 OAcflavone 30 ,40 diOHflavone t O O O t t t t O t 5-OH-20 OMeflavone 5,20 ,50 triOHflavone 5,8diOHflavone O O t O t t O O O O O t t t t t t t t t O O t O O t O t t t t t t t t t t O O O O O O O O O O O O O O t t t t t O O O O O t t O O O O O O O O O t t t t t t t O O O t t t O t t O O t t t t t t t t t t t t t t O t t t t t t O O t t O O O O O O O t t O O t O O t t O t t t t t t t O O t O t O O O t O t O O O t O O O O O O t t t t t t t t t O t t O O O O t t t O t O O t t t t t O t t t t O O t t t 30 -OMe-40 ,50 - 5-OH- 5,20 O2CH2flavone diOHflavone* flavone t O O O O t O t O t O O t t O t t t t t (continued on next page) 940 K.M. Valant-Vetschera et al. / Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 937–947 Table 1 (continued) Source number Clade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 A A BC BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BF BF BF BF BF 20 21 22 23 BF BF BF BF 24 BF 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BE BE BEG BEG 42 43 44 BEG BEG BEG 45 46 47 48 49 50 BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG 62 63 BEG BEG Dionysia balsamea hissarica mira microphylla microphylla involucrata freitagii freitagii tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii (sub bazoftica) esfandiarii esfandiarii viva revoluta subsp. revoluta revoluta subsp. canescens oreodoxa rhaptodes teucrioides teucrioides bornmuelleri aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides khatamii janthina paradoxa paradoxa lurorum lurorum (sub aubrietioides) iranica caespitosa caespitosa subsp.bolivarii zagrica mozaffarrianii mozaffarrianii odora gaubae gaubae var. megalantha hausknechtii hausknechtii cristagalli zetterlundii lamingtonii lamingtonii termeana bryoides diapensifolia sarvestanica sarvestanica subsp. spathulata michauxii michauxii Sectional alignment Non-aligned (NA) Non-aligned (NA) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis Dionysiopsis Dionysiopsis Dionysiopsis Primula-type flavones Flavanones 5-OH8OMeflavone Pinocembrin 5,8,20 triOH flavone 5-OH8,20 diOMeflavone Naringenin t t t O t t O O t O t t t Ap40 Me Luteolin7,30 diMe Kaempferol Kae3Me Kae7Me O t t t Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Zoroasteranthos (B-4) Zoroasteranthos (B-4) Non-aligned (NA) Non-aligned (NA) Mucida (B-5) Mucida (B-5) t t t t O O O O O O O O O t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t O Dionysia (B-6) Dionysia (B-6) Dionysia (B-6) Dionysia (B-6) Dionysia (B-6) Ap7Me t t (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) Apigenin t t Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Eriod7,30 diMe O Dionysiopsis (B-3) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) Eriodictyol7-Me t (B-3) (B-3) (B-3) (B-3) Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Flavones/Flavonols Nar7Me t O O O t O t t t t t t t t t t t t t O O O t t t t t t t t t t t t t t O t t O t t t t t t O t t t t O t t t t O t t t t 941 K.M. Valant-Vetschera et al. / Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 937–947 Table 1 (continued) Source number Clade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 A A BC BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BCD BF BF BF BF BF 20 21 22 23 BF BF BF BF 24 BF 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BF BE BE BEG BEG 42 43 44 BEG BEG BEG 45 46 47 48 49 50 BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG BEG 62 63 BEG BEG Dionysia balsamea hissarica mira microphylla microphylla involucrata freitagii freitagii tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii (sub bazoftica) esfandiarii esfandiarii viva revoluta subsp. revoluta revoluta subsp. canescens oreodoxa rhaptodes teucrioides teucrioides bornmuelleri aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides khatamii janthina paradoxa paradoxa lurorum lurorum (sub aubrietioides) iranica caespitosa caespitosa subsp. bolivarii zagrica mozaffarrianii mozaffarrianii odora gaubae gaubae var. megalantha hausknechtii hausknechtii cristagalli zetterlundii lamingtonii lamingtonii termeana bryoides diapensifolia sarvestanica sarvestanica subsp. spathulata michauxii michauxii Sectional alignment Flavones/Flavonols Kae-3,7diMe Kae-3,40 diMe Unidentified Kae-7,40 diMe Kae3,7,40 triMe Non-aligned (NA) Non-aligned (NA) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-b) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiastrum (A2-a) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis Dionysiopsis Dionysiopsis Dionysiopsis Quercetin Qu7Me Qu7,30 diMe Qu7,30 ,40 triMe t u1 u2 t O t Dionysia (B-6) Dionysia (B-6) Dionysia (B-6) t Dionysia (B-6) Dionysia (B-6) O O O O t t t O t O O O O O O O t (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) O u6 t t Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Dionysiopsis (B-3) Zoroasteranthos (B-4) Zoroasteranthos (B-4) Non-aligned (NA) Non-aligned (NA) Mucida (B-5) Mucida (B-5) Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia u5 O Dionysiopsis (B-3) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) (B-6) u4 t (B-3) (B-3) (B-3) (B-3) Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia Dionysia u3 t t t O O O t t O u7 O t t O t O O O O O O O O O O O t O O O t O O O O t t O O O O O O O O O O O t t t O, major compounds. t, minor compounds. Sources: see Table 3. Clades according to Trift and Anderberg (2006). Sectional alignment following Lidén (2007): NA, non-aligned; Eastern species: A2-a, sect. Dionysiastrum subsect. Tapetodes; A2-b, sect. Dionysiastrum subsect. Involucratae; Western species: B-3, sect. Dionysiopsis; B-4, sect. Zoroasteranthos; B-5, sect. Mucida; B-6, sect. Dionysia. * In earlier papers (Budzianowski and Wollenweber, 2007; Valant-Vetschera et al., 2009) 30 -hydroxy-40 ,50 -methylendioxyflavone was erroneously reported instead of 30 methoxy-40 ,50 methylendioxyflavone from Primula elatior. 942 K.M. Valant-Vetschera et al. / Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 937–947 It appears that additive flavonoid patterns are not the rule within Dionysia, which correlates also to earlier observations in the genus Achillea (Valant-Vetschera and Wollenweber, 1988). 2.4. Flavonoid diversification in taxonomic groups of Dionysia Fig. 1. Main structural types of Dionysia flavonoids. strum (Lidén, 2007). Interpretation of exudate flavonoid profiles is limited since the actual parent species were not available for analysis. Different flavonoid profiles were observed for two accessions of D. aretioides  Dionysia bornmuelleri (Pax) Clay, but both shared the formation of flavanones with the parent species D. bornmuelleri. Also, the hybrid D. aretioides  D. microphylla exhibited the flavanone naringenin-7-Me found in all accessions of D. aretioides, but exhibited a reduced profile when compared to the parent species. No fundamental differences were obvious between D. archibaldii  D. microphylla and D. microphylla, and some of the typical compounds from D. archibaldii were not detected in this hybrid. Principal component analysis (PCo-analysis) was applied in search of distribution patterns and variation of exudate flavonoid distribution within Dionysia. Artificial hybrid taxa were excluded, and so was Dionysia khatamii Mozaffarian because of coding ‘‘zero” in all data. Quantities of accumulation were not taken into account in the binary presence/absence data matrix, as was performed recently (Wollenweber et al., 2008). Variation was sufficiently indicated by values of the first 5 components extracted. Fig. 3 results from plotting component 1 against component 2. Cases are represented by species, which were coded with respect to their sectional alignment (Lidén, 2007), corresponding to Table 1. Three main groups are defined: group 1 consists of some species from sect. Dionysia (B-6, part 1), with Dionysia janthina Bornm. et Wink from sect. Zoroasteranthos (B-4) falling into this group. The second group comprises the remaining species from sect. Dionysia (B-6, part 2), mixed with several species from sect. Dionysiopsis (B-3) and from sect. Dionysiastrum subsect. Involucratae (A2-b), respectively. Non-aligned taxa (NA) such as Dionysia hissarica fall within taxa of sect. Dionysiopsis (B-3), while D. paradoxa bridges between species of sect. Dionysiopsis (B-3) and sect. Dionysiastrum subsect. Involucratae (A2-b). While group 1 consists of Western species only, group 2 is a geographic mix of Eastern and Western taxa. This is also true for group 3, in which species of sect. Dionysiopsis subsect. Tapetodes (A2-a) and the remaining species of sect. Dionysiastrum are grouped. The other non-aligned taxa are now associated with other groups: both accessions of D. paradoxa are positioned between sect. Dionysiopsis and sect. Dionysiastrum subsect. Involucratae (A2-b) in group 2, while Dionysia balsamea shows up within Dionysiopsis (B-3) in group 3. Species of sect. Dionysia, which are all efarinose, group together best, which is not true for species from Fig. 2. Frequences of single flavonoids in exudates of Dionysia spp. x-axis: all detected compounds (abbreviations and sequence as in Table 1). y-axis: absolute calculated value (sum of occurrences/number of taxa analysed). Occurrences of single compounds were coded as (2) for large amounts, and as (1) for small amounts. Undetectable amounts were coded as (0). O O O t t t t O O O O O O O O O O t t t t O t O O O O O t t t t t t t t t O O O O O, major compounds. t, minor compounds. Sources: see Table 3. Grey, hybrid taxa. O O O O O O O O O O 29 66 65 30 31 32 33 34 35 64 4 5 67 15 16 17 18 19 microphylla t microphylla archibaldii  microphylla archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii (sub t bazoftica) bornmuelleri bornmuelleri  aretioides aretioides  bornmuelleri aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides  microphylla O O O O O O O O t t O O O O O O O t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O t t t O O O O O O t O O O O 5,8,20 triOH flavone 5,85-OH-8diOHOMeflavone flavone 5-OH-20 OMeflavone 5-OH- 5,20 flavone diOHflavone 30 -OMe40 ,50 O2CH2flavone 20 -OH50 -OAcflavone Flavone 20 -OH- 20 20 ,50 20 ,bdiOHflavone OMediOHchalcone flavone flavone Source Dionysia number Table 2 Exudate flavonoids of artificial hybrids and parent species. O t 5-OH-8,20 diOMeflavone Naringenin- Eriodictyol- u1 u2 u4 u5 u6 7-Me 7-Me K.M. Valant-Vetschera et al. / Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 937–947 943 other taxonomic units exhibiting varying types of farina and/or glandular hairs. Flavonoid diversification hardly shows correlation with biogeographic diversification which is basal to the current concept of Lidén (2007). However, the species groups are well supported by their flavonoid accumulation tendencies. Thus, species of group 1 accumulate more of the regular flavones and flavonols and hardly any of the typical Primula flavones. Group 2 accumulates both types on a more or less equal level, while species of group 3 tend to accumulate mainly the typical Primula flavonoids. Interestingly, the flavanones occur scattered throughout all three groups. The present data suggest that unsubstituted flavone and specific groups of biogenetically defined derivatives represent accumulation tendencies which could be used for interpretation. The observed diversifications of accumulation tendencies were expected to be possibly associated with characters related to flavonoid production, i.e., production of woolly versus powdery farina, or lack of farina (but presence of glandular hairs). Therefore, farina characters were mapped on the scatterplot (Fig. 3). Whereas species of group 1 (Fig. 3) are all efarinose (sect. Dionysia, B-6), combined with D. janthina of sect. Zoroasteranthos (B-4; reduced presence of glandular hairs; Lidén, 2007), the other two groups are mixed with respect to farina production. Group 2 consists of the remaining species of sect. Dionysia (B-6; similarly efarinose), but they are mixed with taxa of woolly and, in one case, of mealy (powdery) farina from sect. Dionysiopsis, as well as with two nonaligned taxa D. hissarica Lipsky, D. paradoxa (NA) both showing woolly farina. Group 3 contains species which are described as having both states (woolly farina or efarinose), along with species of the mealy farina type. According to Trift et al. (2004), woolly farina represents an ancestral state, and it is as yet unclear whether ‘‘efarinose” represents an advanced character state or not. It appears that the degree of correlation between glandular morphology, production of farina, and flavonoid diversification is equally obscure as was recently found for Primula (Valant-Vetschera et al., 2009). In the following, flavonoid diversification tendencies (Table 1) are discussed against infrageneric (Lidén, 2007) and cladistic concepts (Trift et al., 2004; Trift and Anderberg, 2006) more in detail (Table 1). If not cited otherwise, botanical information mentioned here originates from these publications. Clade A comprises D. balsamea Wendelbo & Rech. f. and D. hissarica, with strong support as a sister clade to the rest of the genus and considered subsequently as non-aligned. D. hissarica (group 2, Fig. 3) differs from D. balsamea (group 3, Fig. 3) by the formation of flavonols and of some of the unidentified flavonoids. Thus they are chemically well differentiated and the same applies in parts to their morphological characters (Trift et al., 2004). Dionysia mira, another basal taxon being considered to be the closest relative to the genus Primula (Wendelbo, 1961), is found as a sister taxon to subclade BCD on the molecular tree (low support). Flavonoid chemistry places this taxon together with D. paradoxa and D. hissarica in group 2 (Fig. 3). The earlier assumed affinities between D. balsamea and D. paradoxa (Grey-Wilson, 1989) are neither obvious from chemical nor from molecular analysis. Generally, flavanones and flavonols are quite rare in subclade BCD, and only some of the unknown compounds were found to be occasionally accumulated. The two chemically different accessions of D. microphylla are found in group 2 (No. 5, Table 1) and group 3 (No. 4, Table 1), respectively, because of their different flavonoid complement. In clade BF, Primula-type flavones dominate in all of the species, but flavanones and some flavonols were found in a few species, together with some of the unidentified flavonoids. In this clade, Dionysia oreodoxa Bornm. and Dionysia rhaptodes Bunge form one pair of species, and another group consists of D. khatamii, D. janthina, and Dionysia curviflora of a separate section named Zoroasteranthos (B-4). This section is morphologically well defined, and as far as 944 K.M. Valant-Vetschera et al. / Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 937–947 Fig. 3. Principal component analysis of Dionysia flavonoids and comparison with farina characters. Sectional alignment following Lidén (2007): NA, non-aligned; Eastern species: A2-a, sect. Dionysiastrum subsect. Tapetodes; A2-b, sect. Dionysiastrum subsect. Involucratae; Western species: B-3, sect. Dionysiopsis; B-4, sect. Zoroasteranthos; B-5, sect. Mucida; B-6, sect. Dionysia. Farina characters: e: efarinose, lack of farina, but presence of glandular hairs; w, woolly farina; m, mealy (powdery) farina; we, either woolly farina or efarinose; rgh, glandular hairs reduced to specific organ parts in low number. Species of group 1: zetterlundii, sarvestanica, gaubae var. megalantha, termeana, lamingtonii (all accessions), odora, gaubae, iranica, cristagalli, zagrica, janthina. Species of group 2: bryoides, diapensifolia, sarvestanica subsp. spathulata, michauxii (all accessions), caespitosa and subsp. bolivarii, mozaffarrianii (all accessions), haussknechtii (all accessions), revoluta subsp. revoluta, hissarica, oreodoxa, rhaptodes, esfandiarii (all accessions), mira, paradoxa (all accessions), microphylla (No. 5 in Table 1), involucrata, freitagii (all accessions). Species of group 3: viva, revoluta subsp. canescens, lurorum (incl. sub aubrietioides), teucrioides (all accessions), microphylla (No. 4 in Table 1), tapetodes (all accessions), bornmuelleri, archibaldii (all accessions and ‘‘bazoftica”), balsamea, aretioides (all accessions). exudates are concerned, also exceptional. Only one compound of unknown structure (u7 in Table 1), not detected in any of the other Dionysia species studied, was found in the exudate of D. khatamii, while D. curviflora did not yield any exudate at all. Flavonoid profiles had a low degree of similarity in all species from this clade, but infraspecific variation is not known. The closely related D. aretioides, the Turkish D. teucrioides, and D. bornmuelleri exhibit similar flavonoid profiles, and are found in group 3 (Fig. 3). The following part of Clade B splits up into Dionysia lurorum Wendelbo (BE), the sister taxon to the larger group of species of subclade BEG. This clade conforms as a whole to sect. Dionysia (B-6 in Fig. 3). D. lurorum, being now placed in the new section Mucida (B-5; Lidén, 2007), is found in group 3 (Fig. 3) according to its flavonoid accumulation tendencies. Within subclade BEG, a tendency to accumulate flavanones, flavones and flavonols in addition or instead of the Primula flavonoids is noted (Table 1). Also, unidentified flavonoids are encountered in some of the taxa of this group. These diversifications lead to a split into two distinct groups in PCo-analysis as already discussed (see also Fig. 3). Exudates of Dionysia odora Fenzl, Dionysia gaubae Bornm., Dionysia zetterlundii Lidén, D. lamingtonii, and Dionysia sarvestanica Jamzad et Grey-Wilson, were found to be devoid of the typical Primula flavones. However, D. odora occupies quite a large distribution area in Iran, and infraspecific variation may occur. The rare flavanone pinocembrin was detected in exudates of D. odora, D. gaubae var. megalantha, and D. zetterlundii, respectively. Particularly D. odora is seen as close relative to D. gaubae. The existing chemical differences between D. gaubae and its var. megalantha contrast to their small morphological differences which resulted in taxonomic recognition on the level of variety only. Unfortunately, this collection has not yet been included in molecular phylogenetic analysis. The phytochemical differences between D. sarvestanica and its subsp. spathulata are even greater: D. sarvestanica differs by the lack of Primula flavones in its exudate and also shows a different composition of flavones and flavonols. While samples of D. gaubae originated from the wild, both D. sarvestanica collections were grown under identical conditions in Gothenburg, thus excluding different growth conditions as cause for variation. D. termeana is the only species accumulating kaempferol derivatives (3,7-diMe; 7,40 -diMe; 3,7,4’-triMe) in its exudate. In this clade, D. termeana is quite close to D. michauxii, which is not reflected by the exudate flavonoid composition. 2.5. Exudate flavonoid diversification between Primula and Dionysia Accumulation tendencies of Dionysia are further compared with those of the designated Primula outgroup (species of subgen. Sphondylia; Trift et al., 2004; see Fig. 4). 5-Deoxyflavones (DF in Fig. 4) are the major accumulation tendency both in Dionysia and in the Primula outgroup, followed by the corresponding 5-hydroxyflavones (5F in Fig. 4). Dionysia differs by the lack of 5,6-disubstituted 5-hydroxyflavones, and by the accumulation of 20 ,b-diOHchalcone, flavanones, regular substituted flavones and flavonols, and the unknown flavonoids from the Primula outgroup. Also, quantitative expression of single groups of typical Primula flavonoids is different. The degree of exudate diversification in biogenetic terms is larger within Dionysia as in the Primula outgroup and in other Primula spp. studied so far (Valant-Vetschera et al., 2009). However, Primula spp. exhibit more complex derivatives of only one biogenetic group of flavones (Primula-type flavonoids), and some of these complex derivatives have so far not been detected in the studied species of Dionysia. Based upon current phylogenetic data, D. tapetodes, D. microphylla, Dionysia involucrata Zapr. and D. janthina (Trift et al., 2002), or D. tapetodes and D. aretioides (Mast et al., 2001) are seen as closely allied to Primula. Within Primula, species of subgen. Sphondylia were earlier considered to be the most primitive (Wendelbo, 1961). Their flavonoid profile appears less complex K.M. Valant-Vetschera et al. / Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 937–947 945 Fig. 4. Comparison of accumulation tendencies between Primula (outgroup) and Dionysia. x-axis, compounds and derivatives; y-axis, absolute value (calculated: sum of occurrences/number of taxa analysed). Black bars, Dionysia; hatched bars, Primula outgroup; for calculated values see supplementary data. when compared to other members of the genus (Valant-Vetschera et al., 2009). The most ‘‘Primula-like” profiles were now found in exudates of D. mira, D. microphylla, D. freitagii (p.p.), D. tapetodes, D. archibaldii, D. esfandiarii, and D. paradoxa, of different taxonomic groups within Dionysia. If chemical diversity is applied as a character, these species should be regarded as the most primitive ones of the genus. Earlier, Grey-Wilson (1989) had suggested that species of Primula sect. Bullatae (subgen. Auganthus) should be the closest relatives to Dionysia. So far, only Primula forrestii from this group is known for its exudate flavonoid profile (Valant-Vetschera et al., 2009), which would not contradict this assumption. Correlating exudate flavonoid chemistry with phylogenetic positions derived from DNA-data does not yield satisfactory results for all groups of Dionysia. The significance of this observation is not yet clear. It is hard to believe that distinct biosynthetic routes are expressed at random. This assumption is backed by the fact that Cortusa matthioli, which is deeply nested within Primula, corresponds chemically quite well. Thus, this taxon is more Primula-like (Valant-Vetschera et al., 2009) than many of the Dionysia species studied. We expect to better understand the evolution of exudate flavonoid pathways once the biosynthesis of the Primula-type flavonoids is fully known. In our view, the parallel expression of various accumulation tendencies in Dionysia indicates a larger degree of diversification (complexity) and probably a derived state. This is paralleled by the current view of the phylogenetic position of Dionysia in the Primulaceae (Trift et al., 2004), and suggests that the genus Dionysia represents an evolutionary newer lineage. It certainly will be necessary to study also the genus Primula more in detail for a better understanding of relationships in this assemblage. Whether the extreme habitat occupied by Dionysia species is causal to the biosynthetic complexity of exudate flavonoid profiles is currently open to speculation. However, anti-oxidative and radical-scavenging activities of these flavonoids may explain their accumulation in plants of arid and/or alpine regions, where increased UV-radiation prevails (Valant-Vetschera and Brem, 2006; Valant-Vetschera et al., 2009). This certainly applies also to our Dionysia species, which are so attractive to rock gardeners because of their morphological beauty, and equally to phytochemists because of their interesting biosynthetic capacity. 3. Experimental 3.1. Plant material Plant material was obtained largely from collections cultivated in green houses at the Gothenburg Botanic Garden, the collection of M. Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany), Botanischer Garten München, Botanischer Garten der TU Darmstadt, and from collections in the wild from various expeditions carried out by Swedish botanists (see Table 3, material sent by I. Trift (SE) is marked with an asterisk). Respective herbarium specimens are kept in the institutions from which the material was received (M, GB). 3.2. Extraction and identification Aerial parts of the collected plant species were briefly rinsed with acetone in order to dissolve the lipophilic exudate material. The mixture obtained after evaporation was then analysed, as described previously (Budzianowski and Wollenweber, 2007). Comparative TLC with markers was carried out on polyamide with the solvents: (A) petrol100–140/toluene/MeCOEt/MeOH 12:6:1:1; (B) toluene/petrol100–140/MeCOEt/MeOH 12:6:2:1; (C) toluene/petrol100–140/MeCOEt/MeOH 10:25:1:1; (D) toluene/MeCOEt/MeOH 12:5:3; (E) toluene/dioxane/MeOH 8:1:1; and on silica with solvents (F) toluene/MeCOEt 9:1; and (G) toluene/dioxane/HOAc 18:5:1. Chromatograms were viewed under UV (366 nm) before and after spraying with ‘‘Naturstoffreagenz A” (0.2% of diphenylboric acid 2-aminoethyl ester in MeOH). Authentic markers for the identification of the flavonoids were available in E.W.’s laboratory. Their structures have been elucidated previously. Literature references on UV- and MS-data along with retention times from our study are given as supplementary material. Similarly, Rf-values (TLC polyamide DC-11; solvent system C) and colour reactions of compounds u1–u6 may be found in supplementary material. 3.3. Principal component analysis Principal components were extracted from a correlation matrix of a binary original data matrix as described in section 2.4, with 946 K.M. Valant-Vetschera et al. / Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 937–947 Table 3 List of analysed material. * Number in Tables 1 and 2 Dionysia Source 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 Hybrid taxa 64 65 66 67 balsamea Wendelbo & Rech. f. hissarica Lipsky* mira Wendelbo microphylla Wendelbo* microphylla Wendelbo involucrata Zapr.* freitagii Wendelbo* freitagii Wendelbo* tapetodes Bunge* tapetodes Bunge* tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes tapetodes archibaldii Wendelbo* archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii archibaldii (sub bazoftica)* esfandiarii Wendelbo* esfandiarii Wendelbo* viva Lidén & Zetterlund* revoluta subsp. revoluta Boiss.* revoluta subsp. canescens (Boiss.) Wendelbo* oreodoxa Bornm.* rhaptodes Bunge* teucrioides Davis et Wendelbo* teucrioides Davis et Wendelbo bornmuelleri (Pax) Clay aretioides (Lehm.) Boiss.* aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides aretioides khatamii Mozaffarian* janthina Bornm. et Wink* paradoxa Wendelbo* paradoxa Wendelbo* lurorum Wendelbo* lurorum (sub aubrietioides) Jamzad et Mozaffarrian* iranica Jamzad* caespitosa (Duby) Boiss.* caespitosa subsp.? bolivarii Pau* zagrica Grey-Wilson* mozaffarrianii Lidén* mozaffarrianii Lidén* odora Fenzl* gaubae Bornm.* gaubae var. megalantha Bornm.* hausknechtii Bornm. et Strauss* hausknechtii Bornm. et Strauss* cristagalli Lidén* zetterlundii Lidén* lamingtonii Stapf* lamingtonii Stapf* termeana Wendelbo* bryoides Boiss* diapensifolia Boiss.* sarvestanica Jamzad et Grey-Wilson* sarvestanica subsp. spathulata* michauxii (Duby) Boiss.* michauxii (Duby) Boiss.* GWH 580: cultivated; Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany) JJH 918037 Halda 92-0057, Bot. Garden Gothenburg Cultivated; Bot. Garden Munich (Germany) Grey-Wilson & Hewer 1302, Bot. Garden Gothenburg GWH 1302: cultivated; Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany) 1992: Bot. Garden Gothenburg Watson P. 84 Grey-Wilson & Hewer 8497: Bot. Garden Gothenburg Watson P. 93 EGW 92/21: Bot. Garden Gothenburg T 4Z 1086-1 Iran: Khorasan, Kuh-e-Binalud NE Darrud [220-1910] Arch. P. 81 Hewer 1164, Bot. Garden Gothenburg H 1164: cultivated; Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany) Cultivated; Bot. Garden Munich (Germany) GWH 780: cultivated; Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany) MK 9630, seeds derived from cultures Kammerlander PZ Beuken [2003-865]: Bot. Garden Gothenburg JCA3010: cultivated; Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany) MK 97-310/2, seeds derived from cultures Kammerlander MK 94-02/1, seeds derived from cultures Kammerlander 87-1 JLMS 02-087 Iran: Bazoft Valley SW-Mayr [2003-193] SLIZE 259-3 SLIZE 259-4 [98-1939] T 4Z 035 Iran: Fars, Vallyabad between Marwdasht and Amsanjan [2002-1949] T 4Z 030 Iran: Yazd [2002-1943] SLIZE 192-3 D. Zschummel 101-06 Iran: Mt Takh Ali [2001-21179 T 4Z 1060 Iran: Kerman, Kuh-e-Jupar [2003-1877] 2000 0841 from Bot. Garden Munich (Germany); cultivated Bot. Garden Gothenburg Cultivated; Bot. Garden Munich (Germany) Rechninger 11456: Bot. Garden Gothenburg SLIZE 035 1998-1857 Lidén [29-9-04] Cultivated Bot. Garden, TU Darmstadt Population a: cultivated; Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany) Population b: cultivated; Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany) Population c: cultivated; Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany) Population d: cultivated; Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany) T 4Z 13-2 [2002–2200] T 4Z 007 Iran: Yazd, S of Mehriz, valley to Tang-e-Chenar [2002-1919] PW 7414: Bot. Garden Gothenburg PW 744: Bot. Garden Gothenburg T 4Z 136-4 T 4Z 136-18 [2002-2059] T 4Z 118 [2002-2036] T 4Z 155 Iran: Esfahan, above Analajeh, Kuh-e-Dalan [2002-2235] T 4Z 120 Iran: Esfahan, Karobas Pass, N of tunnel, type loc. [2002-2040] SLIZE 176-8 T 4Z 100-8 Iran SLIZE 232-9 99-0713 Kammerlander 0713-B, Bot. Garden Gothenburg DZ 0038/2 T 4Z 190 Iran: Lorestan [2002-2115] T 4Z 175 [2002-2101] SLIZE 322-3 [1998-1973] DZ 01-? [2003-859] T 4Z 125 Iran: Chaharmahal Va-Bakhtiyari, Karun Valley, Shari Pass [2002-2046] T 4Z 138 Iran: Chaharmahal Va-Bakhtiyari, Bazoft Valley [2002-2061] SLIZE 161-2 D. Zschummel 00-46-2 [2000-1825] T 4Z 092 Iran: Fraz [2002-2006] SLIZE 253-2 T 4Z 040 Iran: between Kherameh and Sarvestan T 4Z 1044 Iran: Farz, Kuh-e-Sefidar [2003-1861] SLIZE 254-11 SLIZE 254-8 Iran aretioides  microphylla aretioides  bormuelleri bornmuelleri  aretioides* archibaldii  microphylla MK-91-25/3, seeds derived from cultures Kammerlander Cultivated; Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany) 1974: Bot. Garden Gothenburg MK92-25/1, seeds derived from cultures Kammerlander Material received from Ida Trift. artificial hybrids and D. khatamii (yielding zero values) being excluded. The option ‘‘Principal components of the factor analysis”, implemented in SPSS (version 10), was applied. Fourteen components were obtained, with the first 5 explaining 60.2% of total var- iance. Component 1 explained 30.8% of variance, followed by component 2 (10.8%), component 3 (6.9%), component 4 (6.5%) and component 5 (5.2%). Components 1 and 2 were used for scatterplot illustration (see Fig. 3). K.M. Valant-Vetschera et al. / Phytochemistry 71 (2010) 937–947 Acknowledgements Thanks are due to all those providing plant material for analysis, particularly to Mr. Kammerlander (Würzburg, Germany), the Botanic Garden Munich (Germany), and to Ida Trift (Stockholm, Sweden), in collaboration with Gothenburg Botanic Garden. Dr. J. Greimler (Dept. Syst. Evol. Botany, WU) kindly helped with statistical analysis and interpretation. The skilful technical assistance of M. Dörr (Darmstadt, Germany) is greatly acknowledged. Appendix A. Supplementary data Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2010.03.004. References Budzianowski, J., Wollenweber, E., 2007. Rare flavones from the glandular leaf exudate of the oxlip, Primula elatior L. Nat. Prod. Commun. 2, 267–270. Grey-Wilson, C., 1989. Dionysia – the genus in cultivation and in the wild. Alpine Garden Society, Woking. Harborne, J.B., 1968. 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