RESUMEN
The true lavender Lavandula angustifolia Miller is a Mediterranean aromatic shrub widely cultivated for its high quality essential oil used in perfumery and phytotherapy. Despite its economic importance, the intra-specific diversity among wild, non-cultivated plants remains poorly understood. We analyzed the structure of the chemical and genetic diversity of plants from 14 sites sampled over the entire native range of the true lavender. Volatile organic compounds of inflorescences were analyzed using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Genotyping was performed with fingerprinting genetic markers. To limit the influence of environmental variability on chemical composition, plants were grown in the same conditions in a common garden. Without prior knowledge, discriminant analysis of principal component identified unambiguously four distinct chemotypes among three genetic populations. Co-inertia analysis and supervised analysis which integrated multiple datasets indicated a strong congruency between chemical and genetic patterns. Two distinct genetic units were located at the edge of the distribution area in the south of Italy and in the northeast of Spain, and were associated with two distinct chemotypes. Our results confirmed the existence of three genetically distinct entities, suggesting speciation. All French populations and the Italian Piedmontese population were genetically homogeneous but separated in two distinct chemotypes. The dominant chemotype was present in the center of the native range in southeastern France and was at the origin of the current most cultivated French varieties. Its main compounds were linalyl acetate, linalool, and caryophyllene oxide. The second French chemotype was found in south of Massif Central and presented high abundance of valuable linalyl and lavandulyl acetates. Linalool, eucalyptol, ß-caryophyllene, borneol, camphor, and cis-sabinene-hydrate were significantly associated with southern latitudes and their role would be worth exploring.
RESUMEN
Lavender essential oils (EOs) of higher quality are produced by a few Lavandula angustifolia cultivars and mainly used in the perfume industry. Undesirable compounds such as camphor and borneol are also synthesized by lavender leading to a depreciated EO. Here, we report the cloning of bornyl diphosphate synthase of lavender (LaBPPS), an enzyme that catalyzes the production of bornyl diphosphate (BPP) and then by-products such as borneol or camphor, from an EST library. Compared to the BPPS of Salvia officinalis, the functional characterization of LaBPPS showed several differences in amino acid sequence, and the distribution of catalyzed products. Molecular modeling of the enzyme's active site suggests that the carbocation intermediates are more stable in LaBPPS than in SoBPPS leading probably to a lower efficiency of LaBPPS to convert GPP into BPP. Quantitative RT-PCR performed from leaves and flowers at different development stages of L. angustifolia samples show a clear correlation between transcript level of LaBPPS and accumulation of borneol/camphor, suggesting that LaBPPS is mainly responsible of in vivo biosynthesis of borneol/camphor in fine lavender. A phylogenetic analysis of terpene synthases (TPS) pointed out the basal position of LaBPPS in the TPSb clade, suggesting that LaBPPS could be an ancestor of others lavender TPSb. Finally, borneol could be one of the first monoterpenes to be synthesized in the Lavandula subgenus. Knowledge gained from these experiments will facilitate future studies to improve the lavender oils through metabolic engineering or plant breeding. Accession numbers: LaBPPS: KM015221.