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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1467421

Phenotypic plasticity vs. local genetic adaptation: Essential oil diversity of natural immortelle (Helichrysum italicum (Roth.) G.Don) populations along eastern Adriatic coast

Provisionally accepted
Tonka Ninčević Runjić Tonka Ninčević Runjić 1Dejan Pljevljakušić Dejan Pljevljakušić 2Marko Runjić Marko Runjić 1*Martina Grdiša Martina Grdiša 3Zlatko Šatović Zlatko Šatović 3
  • 1 Institute for Adriatic Crops and Karst Reclamation, Split, Croatia
  • 2 Institute for Medicinal Plants Reserach "Dr. Josif Pančić", Belgrade, Serbia
  • 3 Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The essential oil of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G.Don, commonly known as immortelle, is produced in Mediterranean countries to meet the increasing demand of the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. This study focused on the analysis of secondary metabolites, specifically essential oils, extracted from plants grown from the seeds of natural immortelle populations collected along the eastern Adriatic coast and cultivated ex situ under uniform conditions. Field trials were conducted to determine whether the observed variability was due to phenotypic plasticity or local genetic adaptation. Eighteen natural immortelle populations were sampled, hydrodistilled and their essential oil composition determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 84 compounds were identified. Eighteen essential oil compounds were present in concentrations greater than 5% in at least one sample of 18 populations. The populations differed significantly in nine essential oil compounds: Limonene, linalool, nerol, neryl acetate, trans-caryophyllene, neryl propionate, ar-curcumene, β-selinene and δ-selinene and the differences were attributed to genetic adaptation to the native environment. Three chemotypes were identified within which the populations were grouped. Results showed a significant and strong correlation between biochemical and bioclimatic distance, with 22.4% of biochemical differentiation between populations explained by bioclimatic distance. Correlations between the 18 main compounds and the bioclimatic variables of the populations' native environment revealed that BIO14 Precipitation of driest month and BIO15 Precipitation seasonality, were the most informative. These results can Oblikovano: Font: Kurziv serve as a first step for future selection of immortelle populations with desirable adaptations to obtain commercial cultivars that ensure high quality immortelle essential oil.

    Keywords: Helichrysum italicum, field trial, phenotypic plasticity, local adaptation, secondary metabolites, chemodiversity, Bioclimatic variables, Mediterranean

    Received: 19 Jul 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Ninčević Runjić, Pljevljakušić, Runjić, Grdiša and Šatović. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Marko Runjić, Institute for Adriatic Crops and Karst Reclamation, Split, Croatia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.