Identification of sarracenin in four species of Sarracenia (Sarraceniaceae)

Sayed Ibrahim

Identification of sarracenin in four species of Sarracenia (Sarraceniaceae)

2000, Biochemical Systematics and Ecology

Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 28 (2000) 193}195 New Source Report Identi"cation of sarracenin in four species of Sarracenia (Sarraceniaceae) Tyree Newman!, Sayed Ibrahim", James W. Wheeler", W.B. McLaughlin#, Raymond L. Petersen!, Richard M. Du$eld!,* !Department of Biology, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA "Department of Chemistry, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA #US Botanic Gardens, 4700 Shepherd Parkway, S.W., Washington, DC 20032, USA Received 2 February 1999; accepted 9 March 1999 Keywords: Sarracenia spp.; Sarraceniaceae; Carnivorous plant; Pitcher plant; Sarracenin 1. Subject and source Sarracenia is one of three genera in the Sarraceniaceae and consists of eight recognized species (Schnell, 1976). The majority of Sarracenia species occur in the southeastern United States along the Coastal Plain in a variety of wet-land habitats (Folkerts, 1982). A number of hybrids occur in disturbed areas where populations overlap. Only one species, S. purpurea L., is widely distributed ranging from the Gulf Coast to northern Canada and west into Mackenzie District of the Northwest Territories, Canada (Cody and Talbot, 1973). Sarracenia purpurea was collected at Big Run Bog (393 07@N, 793 35@W), Tucker County, West Virginia, Monongahela National Forest. Sarracenia alata Wood, S. leucophylla Raf., S. minor Walt. and S. rubra Walt. leaves were obtained from the National Botanic Gardens, Washington, D.C. These cultivated plants were raised outdoors in cold frames. Voucher specimens have been deposited in the Herbarium in the Department of Biology, Howard University. * Corresponding author. 0305-1978/00/$ - see front matter ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 3 0 5 - 1 9 7 8 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 5 1 - 4 194 T. Newman et al. / Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 28 (2000) 193}195 Fig. 1. Structure of sarracenin. 2. Previous work The enol diacetal monoterpene, sarracenin (Fig. 1), was "rst identi"ed in extracts of `dry ground rootsa of Sarracenia yava L. (Miles et al., 1976). Ja!e et al. (1995) later reported sarracenin in extracts of the nectaries of two species of the Neotropical genus, Heliamphora (Sarraceniaceae). 3. Present study One hundred fresh leaves of S. purpurea were extracted with methylene chloride for 24 h. Similar methylene chloride extracts were prepared from 50 fresh #ower buds and subtending peduncles, 100 dried leaves, and washed rhizomes with attached roots from three plants that had been cut into pieces. Methylene chloride extracts were prepared of fresh S. alata, S. leucophylla, S. minor and S. rubra leaves. Each sample was fractionated by column chromatography, eluting silicic acid columns with solvents of increasing polarity. The concentrated fractions were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Sarracenin was identi"ed in S. alata, S. leucophylla, S. purpurea and S. rubra leaves. It was also identi"ed in the rhizome and attached root fraction and maturing #ower buds and peduncle fraction of S. purpurea. Sarracenin was identi"ed by comparing the mass spectra with those reported in the literature (Miles et al., 1976). Sarracenin was not detected in the leaf extracts of S. minor. 4. Chemotaxonomic signi5cance The family Sarraceniaceae consists of three genera; Darlingtonia, Heliamphora and Sarracenia. One might expect these related genera to share similar or unique natural products. Sarracenin appears to be a compound unique to members of this family. First reported in S. yava, it was subsequently found in two species of Heliamphora. Our study documents the occurrence of sarracenin in four additional species of Sarracenia, namely S. alata, S. leucophylla, S. purpurea and S. rubra. The inability to detect this compound in the leaves of S. minor may be an artifact resulting from the T. Newman et al. / Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 28 (2000) 193}195 195 relatively small amount of leaf material used (less than 2% that of S. purpurea) and/or low concentration. It is signi"cant to note that our investigation documents the presence of sarracenin in leaves as well as in the #ower bud * peduncle and rhizome * root fractions of S. purpurea. It appears this compound is distributed throughout the plant although at unknown relative concentrations. It did not matter whether the S. purpurea leaves were dried or fresh, sarracenin was easily detected in either case. It would now be interesting to document the presence of sarracenin in Darlingtonia, the third genus in the family. Acknowledgements We thank the UDSA-Forest Service (Eastern Region), Monongahela National Forest, and particularly Harry Parrott and Pam Edwards (Research) for their support. Ecological Report d11. References Cody, W.J., Talbot, S.S., 1973. Can. Field-nat. 87, 318. Folkerts, G.W., 1982. Am. Sci. 70, 260. Ja!e, K., Blum, M.S., Fales, H.M., Mason, R.T., Cabrera, A., 1995. J. Chem. Ecol. 21, 379. Miles, D.H., Kokpol, U., Bhattacharya, J., Attwood, J.L., Stone, K.E., Bryson, T.A., Wilson, C., 1976. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 98, 1569. Schnell, D.E., 1976. Carnivorous Plants of the USA and Canada. John F. Blair, Winston-Salem, NC.

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Identification of sarracenin in four species of Sarracenia (Sarraceniaceae)

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