Exploring the chemotypic variability of Silybum marianum and Silybum eburneum by biochemical and genetic characterization
The Silybum genus belonging to the Asteraceae family, is composed of two species, marianum and eburneum, although, in the past, their classification was not always appropriate. While Silybum marianum is very well known since ancient times for the medicinal properties of a blend of different flavonol...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1584104/full |
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| author | Marianna Pasquariello Marianna Pasquariello Tommaso Martinelli Roberta Paris Roberta Paris Anna Moschella Roberto Colombo Alice Di Bello Jessica Frigerio Jessica Frigerio Abdenour Kheloufi Mohammad Amin Mirzaabolghasemi Damiano Puglisi Damiano Puglisi Salvatore Esposito Salvatore Esposito Stefano Scalercio Stefano Scalercio Nino Virzì Pasquale De Vita Pasquale De Vita Nicola Pecchioni Laura Bassolino Laura Bassolino |
| author_facet | Marianna Pasquariello Marianna Pasquariello Tommaso Martinelli Roberta Paris Roberta Paris Anna Moschella Roberto Colombo Alice Di Bello Jessica Frigerio Jessica Frigerio Abdenour Kheloufi Mohammad Amin Mirzaabolghasemi Damiano Puglisi Damiano Puglisi Salvatore Esposito Salvatore Esposito Stefano Scalercio Stefano Scalercio Nino Virzì Pasquale De Vita Pasquale De Vita Nicola Pecchioni Laura Bassolino Laura Bassolino |
| author_sort | Marianna Pasquariello |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Silybum genus belonging to the Asteraceae family, is composed of two species, marianum and eburneum, although, in the past, their classification was not always appropriate. While Silybum marianum is very well known since ancient times for the medicinal properties of a blend of different flavonolignans contained in the achenes and named silymarin, very little information is available about Silybum eburneum chemodiversity. Here, we describe the biochemical characterization of a wide ex situ germplasm collection including 83 wild Silybum accessions collected during ad hoc sampling campaigns in Italy, Spain, Iran and Algeria as well as accessions acquired by seed GenBanks and studied at both population and single plant level. Interestingly, our results confirm the presence of only three chemotypes in S. marianum, namely A, B and C. Conversely, S. eburneum accessions, exhibit a distinct and stable chemotype (D) where isosilychristin is the predominant silymarin component. Additionally, DNA barcoding based on the ribosomal DNA region ITS2 combined with morphological phenotyping and chemotyping, successfully resolves frequently found mistakes in the identification of the two species. These findings significantly expand our knowledge of the global biodiversity of the Silybum genus and provide valuable insights for future breeding programs and potential applications in nutrition and human health sciences. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-762ad01368ec414cbb8bc2206ebb80f0 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-762ad01368ec414cbb8bc2206ebb80f02025-08-20T02:09:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2025-06-011610.3389/fpls.2025.15841041584104Exploring the chemotypic variability of Silybum marianum and Silybum eburneum by biochemical and genetic characterizationMarianna Pasquariello0Marianna Pasquariello1Tommaso Martinelli2Roberta Paris3Roberta Paris4Anna Moschella5Roberto Colombo6Alice Di Bello7Jessica Frigerio8Jessica Frigerio9Abdenour Kheloufi10Mohammad Amin Mirzaabolghasemi11Damiano Puglisi12Damiano Puglisi13Salvatore Esposito14Salvatore Esposito15Stefano Scalercio16Stefano Scalercio17Nino Virzì18Pasquale De Vita19Pasquale De Vita20Nicola Pecchioni21Laura Bassolino22Laura Bassolino23Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA-CI), Bologna, ItalyNBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification (CREA-DC), Firenze, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA-CI), Bologna, ItalyNBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA-CI), Bologna, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Agriculture and Environment Research Centre (CREA-AA), Bologna, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA-CI), Bologna, ItalyNBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, ItalyDepartment of Ecology and Environment, University of Batna 2, Batna, AlgeriaSection of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjan, IranNBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA-CI), Foggia, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA-CI), Foggia, ItalyCNR-IBBR, National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources, Research Division, Portici, ItalyNBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, Italy0Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Forestry and Wood (CREA-FL), Rende, Italy1Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA-CI), Acireale, CT, ItalyNBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA-CI), Foggia, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA-CI), Foggia, ItalyCouncil for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Cereal and Industrial Crops (CREA-CI), Bologna, ItalyNBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, ItalyThe Silybum genus belonging to the Asteraceae family, is composed of two species, marianum and eburneum, although, in the past, their classification was not always appropriate. While Silybum marianum is very well known since ancient times for the medicinal properties of a blend of different flavonolignans contained in the achenes and named silymarin, very little information is available about Silybum eburneum chemodiversity. Here, we describe the biochemical characterization of a wide ex situ germplasm collection including 83 wild Silybum accessions collected during ad hoc sampling campaigns in Italy, Spain, Iran and Algeria as well as accessions acquired by seed GenBanks and studied at both population and single plant level. Interestingly, our results confirm the presence of only three chemotypes in S. marianum, namely A, B and C. Conversely, S. eburneum accessions, exhibit a distinct and stable chemotype (D) where isosilychristin is the predominant silymarin component. Additionally, DNA barcoding based on the ribosomal DNA region ITS2 combined with morphological phenotyping and chemotyping, successfully resolves frequently found mistakes in the identification of the two species. These findings significantly expand our knowledge of the global biodiversity of the Silybum genus and provide valuable insights for future breeding programs and potential applications in nutrition and human health sciences.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1584104/fullflavonolignanchemotypemilk thistleisosilychristingermplasm (genetic) resources |
| spellingShingle | Marianna Pasquariello Marianna Pasquariello Tommaso Martinelli Roberta Paris Roberta Paris Anna Moschella Roberto Colombo Alice Di Bello Jessica Frigerio Jessica Frigerio Abdenour Kheloufi Mohammad Amin Mirzaabolghasemi Damiano Puglisi Damiano Puglisi Salvatore Esposito Salvatore Esposito Stefano Scalercio Stefano Scalercio Nino Virzì Pasquale De Vita Pasquale De Vita Nicola Pecchioni Laura Bassolino Laura Bassolino Exploring the chemotypic variability of Silybum marianum and Silybum eburneum by biochemical and genetic characterization Frontiers in Plant Science flavonolignan chemotype milk thistle isosilychristin germplasm (genetic) resources |
| title | Exploring the chemotypic variability of Silybum marianum and Silybum eburneum by biochemical and genetic characterization |
| title_full | Exploring the chemotypic variability of Silybum marianum and Silybum eburneum by biochemical and genetic characterization |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the chemotypic variability of Silybum marianum and Silybum eburneum by biochemical and genetic characterization |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the chemotypic variability of Silybum marianum and Silybum eburneum by biochemical and genetic characterization |
| title_short | Exploring the chemotypic variability of Silybum marianum and Silybum eburneum by biochemical and genetic characterization |
| title_sort | exploring the chemotypic variability of silybum marianum and silybum eburneum by biochemical and genetic characterization |
| topic | flavonolignan chemotype milk thistle isosilychristin germplasm (genetic) resources |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1584104/full |
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