Jaume Pellicer1, C Haris Saslis-Lagoudakis2, Esperança Carrió3, Madeleine Ernst2, Teresa Garnatje4, Olwen M Grace1, Airy Gras3, Màrius Mumbrú5, Joan Vallès3, Daniel Vitales4, Nina Rønsted6. 1. Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology Department, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond TW9 3AE, United Kingdom. 2. Natural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5A, Copenhagen 1353, Denmark. 3. Laboratori de Botànica - Unitat associada CSIC, Facultat de Farmàcia i Ciències de l'Alimentació, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII 27-31, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. 4. Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB, CSIC-ICUB), Passeig del Migdia sn, 08038 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. 5. Departament de Biologia, Sanitat i Medi Ambient, Facultat de Farmàcia i Ciències de l'Alimentació, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII 27-31, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. 6. Natural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5A, Copenhagen 1353, Denmark. Electronic address: nronsted@snm.ku.dk.
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The discovery of the antimalarial agent artemisinin is considered one of the most significant success stories of ethnopharmacological research in recent times. The isolation of artemisinin was inspired by the use of Artemisia annua in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2015. Antimalarial activity has since been demonstrated for a range of other Artemisia species, suggesting that the genus could provide alternative sources of antimalarial treatments. Given the stunning diversity of the genus (c. 500 species), a prioritisation of taxa to be investigated for their likely antimalarial properties is required. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Here we use a phylogenetic approach to explore the potential for identifying species more likely to possess antimalarial properties. Ethnobotanical data from literature reports is recorded for 117 species. Subsequent phylogenetically informed analysis was used to identify lineages in which there is an overrepresentation of species used to treat malarial symptoms, and which could therefore be high priority for further investigation of antimalarial activity. RESULTS: We show that these lineages indeed include several species with documented antimalarial activity. To further inform our approach, we use LC-MS/MS analysis to explore artemisinin content in fifteen species from both highlighted and not highlighted lineages. We detected artemisinin in nine species, in eight of them for the first time, doubling the number of Artemisia taxa known to content this molecule. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that artemisinin may be widespread across the genus, providing an accessible local resource outside the distribution area of Artemisia annua.
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The discovery of the antimalarial agent artemisinin is considered one of the most significant success stories of ethnopharmacological research in recent times. The isolation of artemisinin was inspired by the use of Artemisia annua in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2015. Antimalarial activity has since been demonstrated for a range of other Artemisia species, suggesting that the genus could provide alternative sources of antimalarial treatments. Given the stunning diversity of the genus (c. 500 species), a prioritisation of taxa to be investigated for their likely antimalarial properties is required. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Here we use a phylogenetic approach to explore the potential for identifying species more likely to possess antimalarial properties. Ethnobotanical data from literature reports is recorded for 117 species. Subsequent phylogenetically informed analysis was used to identify lineages in which there is an overrepresentation of species used to treat malarial symptoms, and which could therefore be high priority for further investigation of antimalarial activity. RESULTS: We show that these lineages indeed include several species with documented antimalarial activity. To further inform our approach, we use LC-MS/MS analysis to explore artemisinin content in fifteen species from both highlighted and not highlighted lineages. We detected artemisinin in nine species, in eight of them for the first time, doubling the number of Artemisia taxa known to content this molecule. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that artemisinin may be widespread across the genus, providing an accessible local resource outside the distribution area of Artemisia annua.
Authors: Anthony E Melton; Andrew W Child; Richard S Beard; Carlos Dave C Dumaguit; Jennifer S Forbey; Matthew Germino; Marie-Anne de Graaff; Andrew Kliskey; Ilia J Leitch; Peggy Martinez; Stephen J Novak; Jaume Pellicer; Bryce A Richardson; Desiree Self; Marcelo Serpe; Sven Buerki Journal: G3 (Bethesda) Date: 2022-07-06 Impact factor: 3.542