Metabolic Characterization of Species from genus Cereus Mill. (Cactaceae, Cereeae) associated with Distinct Biomes of South America

• Grant number: 22/14500-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Phytogeography
• Principal Investigator: Fernando de Faria Franco
• Grantee: Isis Minhós Yano
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Humanas e Biológicas (CCHB). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Sorocaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Metabolomics is an area of study that allows the global assessment of metabolites found in a cell, tissueor organism. From their study it is possible to characterize the variation of analytes in differentorganisms as well as to assess the relationship between the environment and the physiological responsesof an organism. The genus Cereus Mill. (Cactaceae) is widely distributed in South America, occurringin different types of biomes. There are 26 formally recognized species in the genus, subdivided intofour subgenera. Previous studies suggest several transitions of biomes in the biogeographic history ofCereus, some of which may have been favored by functional traits in the BDD (Brazilian Dry Diagonal).In this project, we aim to describe the metabolome of some Cereus species aiming to identify candidatemetabolites that may be related to the colonization of different environments by these species,highlighting the role of environmental filters in the evolution of the group. The hypotheses are: 1) eachspecies will have a distinct chemical metabolic profile, with species-specific metabolites; 2) consideringthe climatic conditions, it is possible that the chemical profile of taxa related to BDD will be differentthan those that occur in the Atlantic Forest; and 3) considering BDD soil, it is possible that the chemicalprofile of taxa related to karstic soil terrains present different metabolic similarities in relation to thosethat occur in crystalline or sedimentary soils. The target taxa for the study occur in different biomes,namely: C. pierre-brauniannus (karstic soils; Cerrado) C. jamacaru subsp. calcirupicola (karstic soils;Cerrado and Caatinga ecotones), C. jamacaru subsp. jamacaru (karstic, crystalline, and sedimentarysoils; Caatinga), C. hildmaniannus subsp. hildmannianus (crystalline and sedimentary soils, AtlanticForest), and C. fernambucensis subsp. fernambucensis (sedimentary soils; Atlantic Forest). Cladodesand root samples from individuals of each taxon will be sampled in the wild for the chemical analysisby the UHPLC-ESI-MS (ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography and eletrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry) method. Multivariate analyses will be used to quantify the variation amonggroups, such as principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis and linear discriminant analysis(LDA). Furthermore, other statistical approaches may be incorporated along the project development,according to the results obtained.