Differential metabolic specialization of foliar oil glands in Eucalyptus brevistylis Brooker (Myrtaceae)

Abstract

Trees and shrubs from the genus Eucalyptus are characterized by the presence of numerous foliar oil glands that generally house mono- and sesquiterpenes. In some species, glands are also known to house substantial quantities of unrelated secondary metabolites such as volatile, aromatic β-triketones. It is not known if these compounds are co-housed with terpenes or if they are produced in distinct, metabolically specialized glands. We showed that Eucalyptus brevistylis—a species with appreciable foliar quantities of both β-triketones and terpenes—contains two visually distinct gland types in leaves, one that is translucent and the other golden-brown. Gas chromatographic analyses of solvent ex..