Pilot study on the uptake and modification of harmaline in acceptor plants: An innovative approach to visualize the interspecific transfer of natural products

Substances which have been leached out from decomposing plant parts or exuded from vital plants (donor plants), are taken up by acceptor plants and subsequently modified. This phenomenon was likewise established for harmala alkaloids. Employing hydroponically grown barley seedlings, it becomes evident that harmaline and harmine are taken up by the roots of the acceptor plants. Furthermore, based on HPLC and GC-MS analyses, it was demonstrated that these alkaloids also are present in Setaria viridis plants, which grew in the direct vicinity of the alkaloid containing Peganum harmala plants. Since harmaline exhibits a bright green fluorescence, this alkaloid was employed to visualize the uptake into the acceptor plants by feeding it to roots of barley seedlings. In the further course, the imported harmaline was converted in the leaves to yield harmine, which exhibits a dark blue fluorescence. This conversion was also verified by HPLC and GC-MS analyses. Based on the massive differences in the fluorescence properties, both processes, uptake and modification in the acceptor plants, could be monitored by macroscopical studies as well as by confocal laser scanning microscopical analyses. As result, for the first time, the phenomenon of Horizontal Natural Product Transfer is visualized vividly.