Genetic and environmental factors influencing the contents of essential oil compounds in Atractylodes lancea

Abstract

Rhizomes of Atractylodes lancea are used in traditional Japanese medicine (Kampo) and Chinese medicine to treat numerous diseases and disorders because they contain many pharmacologically active compounds. The major active compounds in A. lancea are essential oil compounds such as β-eudesmol, hinesol, atractylon, and atractylodin. The contents of the compounds in A. lancea exhibit high variability depending on their habitat. We cultivated clonal lines of A. lancea in different years (2016, 2017) and different locations (Hokkaido, Ibaraki) to investigate the influence of genetic and environmental factors on the contents of major compounds, namely, β-eudesmol, hinesol, atractylon, and atractylodin. Broad sense heritability of β-eudesmol, hinesol, atractylon, and atractylodin contents were 0.84, 0.77, 0.86, and 0.87, respectively. The effects of interannual variability on the contents of the compounds were lower than those of genotype. In addition, the cultivated environmental factors were assessed by different locations, and the correlations between Hokkaido and Ibaraki grown plants based on β-eudesmol, hinesol, atractylon, and atractylodin contents were 0.94, 0.94, 1.00, and 0.83, respectively. The results suggest that the contents of β-eudesmol, hinesol, atractylon, and atractylodin in A. lancea are largely influenced by genetic factors, and clonal propagation could be an effective strategy for obtaining populations with high contents of essential oil compounds. Furthermore, the contents of β-eudesmol, hinesol, atractylon, and atractylodin in A. lancea exhibited few correlations with rhizome yields. A. lancea cultivars with not only high contents of essential oil compounds but also high rhizome yield could be developed through selective breeding.

Fig 1. Range of variations for contents of the essential oil compounds in A. lancea.

The boxes represent the values from the 25th to 75th percentile. The middle lines represent the median. The vertical lines extend from the minimum to the maximum values. Biological replicates within each clonal lines were as follows: line1–line17 (n = 20), line18–line24 (n = 10), line25 (n = 5). A; β-eudesmol contents, B; hinesol contents, C; atractylon contents, D; atractylodin contents.

Fig 2. Relationships between contents of the essential oil compounds and rhizome weight in A. lancea.

A; β-eudesmol contents, B; hinesol contents, C; atractylon contents, D; atractylodin contents.

Fig 3. Interaction plots for interannual variability of the essential oil compound contents in A. lancea.

Each point represents the mean of 20 measurements within clonal lines each in 2016 and 2017. A; β-eudesmol contents, B; hinesol contents, C; atractylon contents, D; atractylodin contents.

Fig 4. Relationships between contents of the essential oil compounds from six A. lancea clones grown in 2016 and 2017.

Each point represents the mean of 20 measurements each in 2016 and 2017. A. β-eudesmol contents, B. hinesol contents, C. atractylon contents, D. atractylodin contents.

Fig 5. Interaction plots for contents of the essential oil compounds in six A. lancea clones grown in Hokkaido and Ibaraki prefectures.

Data represent mean values of each compounds’ contents in A. lancea (n = 20 in line1, n = 12 in line2, n = 8 in line3, n = 20 in line4, n = 18 in line5, n = 20 in line6). A; β-eudesmol contents, B; hinesol contents, C; atractylon contents, D; atractylodin contents.

Fig 6. Relation for contents of the essential oil compounds from six A. lancea clones grown in Hokkaido and Ibaraki prefecture.

Data represent means ± SD (n = 20 in line1, n = 12 in line2, n = 8 in line3, n = 20 in line4, n = 18 in line5, n = 20 in line6). A. β-eudesmol contents, B. hinesol contents, C. atractylon contents, D. atractylodin contents.