Cardenolide Variation within and among Natural Populations of Digitalis obscura

• Published in: Journal of plant physiology 1999-04, Vol.154 (4), p.426-430
• Main Authors: Nebauer, Sergio G., Del Castillo-Agudo, Lucas, Segura, Juan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; cardenolide inter and intra populational variation; Digitalis obscura L; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetics and breeding of economic plants; glycoside hydrolysis; HPLC; Metabolism; Metabolism. Physicochemical requirements; Plant physiology and development; Scrophulariaceae; Varietal selection. Specialized plant breeding, plant breeding aims; Willow-leaved foxglove; Yield, quality, earliness, varia
• ISSN: 0176-1617; 1618-1328
• DOI: 10.1016/S0176-1617(99)80278-8

Cardenolide content in 49 wild-growing Digitalis obscura plants from six natural populations on the Iberian Peninsula was determined by HPLC. Series A and B glycosides were the predominant cardenolides in all samples, but absolute values varied among and within populations. Hierarchic analysis of variance showed that the proportion of variation attributable to individuals was significantly higher than that attributable to population differences. Furthermore, analyses from greenhouse-grown plants, generated from seeds collected from selected parental genotypes, attributed nearly all the variability in cardenolide content to single plants. Some individual plants showed a leaf content above 3500 μ/g dry wt of series A and B cardenolides and will be selected for genetic improvement of Digitalis obscura.