Primary metabolic profiling of four broomrapes belonging to Orobanche and Phelipanche species

Abstract

Genera of the Orobanchaceae family are holoparasites that parasitize various hosts. Several members of this family cause severe damage to diverse crop plants. While the biological and life cycles of these parasites have been studied, their metabolism has received little attention, most of which focused on Phelipanche aegyptiaca. This study aimed at obtaining more knowledge about the primary metabolic profiling of four parasite species belonging to the Orobanchaceae family – Orobanche cumana, Orobanche cernua, Phelipanche aegyptiaca and Phelipanche ramosa – that developed on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) as a host. Using GC-MS, it was shown that significant differences in metabolites content occur between species belonging to Orobanche compared to those belonging to Phelipanche. This finding adds another layer to the separation of these two genera in addition to morphological separation. Moreover, each of these four species exhibits different metabolic profiles, indicating that the parasites can absorb the host’s metabolites but also have the ability to self-regulate their metabolites in order to grow and develop.