Wed, Aug 17, 2022: 5:00 PM-6:30 PM
ESA Exhibit Hall
Background/Question/Methods
Secondary metabolites may directly inhibit the growth of native plants or act indirectly by altering soil microbial communities. Vincetoxicum rossicum is an invasive vine known to exudate such a metabolite, (-)-antofine. Although (-)-antofine has been shown to exhibit antimicrobial properties, whether the chemical is ecologically relevant is unclear. The objective of this study was to assess how (-)-antofine production relates to the abundance of V. rossicum in different habitats. Soil cores were collected across twelve meadow and nine understory sites covering replicated gradients (n=8) of V. rossicum at Rouge National Urban Park, Canada. In total 1344 soil samples were analyzed using Liquid Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry to measure the (-)-antofine concentration. V. rossicum and (-)-antofine patterns were compared using linear-mixed effect models with site as a random effect to control for site level differences in (-)-antofine.
Results/Conclusions
Our results show that (-)-antofine concentration was higher in areas where V. rossicum is more abundant (P < 0.05). The same held true in both meadow (P = 0.049) and understory (P < 0.05) habitats. As site was used as a random effect, this suggests that the abundance of (-)-antofine is not dependant on site but on the density of V. rossicum. This may suggest that V. rossicum ability to invade a wide range of habitats is due to (-)-antofine exudation. As (-)-antofine has anti-microbial properties, V. rossicum invasion success may involve changes in plant-soil interactions. Our research indicates that (-)-antofine may be an important factor in the invasive success of V. rossicum.
Secondary metabolites may directly inhibit the growth of native plants or act indirectly by altering soil microbial communities. Vincetoxicum rossicum is an invasive vine known to exudate such a metabolite, (-)-antofine. Although (-)-antofine has been shown to exhibit antimicrobial properties, whether the chemical is ecologically relevant is unclear. The objective of this study was to assess how (-)-antofine production relates to the abundance of V. rossicum in different habitats. Soil cores were collected across twelve meadow and nine understory sites covering replicated gradients (n=8) of V. rossicum at Rouge National Urban Park, Canada. In total 1344 soil samples were analyzed using Liquid Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry to measure the (-)-antofine concentration. V. rossicum and (-)-antofine patterns were compared using linear-mixed effect models with site as a random effect to control for site level differences in (-)-antofine.
Results/Conclusions
Our results show that (-)-antofine concentration was higher in areas where V. rossicum is more abundant (P < 0.05). The same held true in both meadow (P = 0.049) and understory (P < 0.05) habitats. As site was used as a random effect, this suggests that the abundance of (-)-antofine is not dependant on site but on the density of V. rossicum. This may suggest that V. rossicum ability to invade a wide range of habitats is due to (-)-antofine exudation. As (-)-antofine has anti-microbial properties, V. rossicum invasion success may involve changes in plant-soil interactions. Our research indicates that (-)-antofine may be an important factor in the invasive success of V. rossicum.