Epicuticular wax analysis of wild and agronomically important Agave species

Publication date: December 2019Source: Phytochemistry Letters, Volume 34Author(s): Kelly M. Monja-Mio, Fabiola Escalante-Erosa, Xochil M. Eb-Puc, Miguel Á. Herrera-Alamillo, Luis M. Peña-Rodríguez, Manuel L. RobertAbstractAgaves are cultivated in Mexico as a source of industrial products such as fibers, nutritional supplements and alcoholic beverages. A particularly important trait present in all agaves, which makes them economically viable crops for certain geographic regions, is their ability to grow under water limiting conditions. One of the anatomical characteristics that contributes to this adaptation, is the thick layer of epicuticular waxes deposited on their surface which reduces water loss by evapotranspiration. Still, to date, and in spite of their economic importance, there has been practically no effort to improve the genetics and productivity of agaves; this investigation focuses on the differences in the content and types of the epicuticular waxes present on the surface of leaves of wild and agronomically important Agave species with different ploidy level. The agaves analyzed were two diploids [A. tequilana Weber and the hybrid H11648 (A. amaniensis Trel. & Nowell x A. angustifolia Haw. back crossed to A. amaniensis)]; two pentaploids (A. fourcroydes var. Sac ki and A. fourcroydes var. Yaax ki) and a hexaploid (A. angustifolia var. Chelem ki)The epicuticular waxes were obtained by hexane extraction and their chemical composition was established by capillary...
Source: Phytochemistry Letters - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research