Plant growth regulation effects of triterpenoid saponins |
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| Authors: | S Ohara T Ohira |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Forest Chemistry, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, PO Box 16, Tsukuba Norin Kenkyu Danchi-nai, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan Tel. +81-298-73-3211 (ext. 525); Fax +81-298-73-3797 e-mail: oharas@ffpri.affrc.go.jp, JP |
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| Abstract: | To investigate structure–activity relations between the sugar chain structures of triterpenoid saponins and their plant growth
regulation effects, several monodesmosidic saponins with betulin as an aglycon were synthesized by chemical and enzymic reactions.
Three triterpenoids (betulin, betulinic acid, oleanolic acid) and synthesized betulin glycosides were submitted to germination
and growth regulation tests on alfalfa seeds. We concluded the following. Betulin had a slight growth inhibitory effect on
alfalfa radicles. Betulin glycosides exhibited stronger effects than betulin, and betulin glycosides with two to four glucose
residues as a sugar moiety had the greatest inhibitory activity. These characteristics of growth inhibitory effects were considerably
different from those of phenolic compounds so far reported. Some betulin glycosides also showed a significant growth regulation
effect on alfalfa hypocotyls. However, hypocotyl growth was less affected than radicle growth for all betulin glycosides.
Among the triterpenoids, betulinic acid had stronger growth inhibitory effects on alfalfa radicles than betulin, suggesting
the importance of the carboxyl group at the C-28 position for the inhibitory effects of lupane-type triterpenoids. On the
other hand, no germination regulation effects on alfalfa seeds were observed for any of the betulin glycosides or triterpenoids
examined.
Received: October 9, 2001 / Accepted: February 15, 2002
Acknowledgments This work was supported in part by a research grant (Development of Highly Functional Materials by Structural Modification
of Carbohydrates) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan. We thank Saori Kudo for her assistance
in isolating compounds by chromatography.
Correspondence to:S. Ohara |
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| Keywords: | Betulin Betulin glycosides Triterpenoids Triterpenoid saponins Plant growth regulation effects |
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