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Structure and characteristics of foliar variegation in four species of medicinal Zingiberaceae

  • Structural Botany - Original Article
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Abstract

Foliar variegation not only enhances the ornamental and economic value of plants but also challenges people's perceptions of leaf form and function. We studied four species of Zingiberaceae plants with both medicinal and ornamental values in southern China; and found that different Zingiberaceae plants had different variegation mechanisms. The variegated mechanism types of Curcuma phaeocaulis Valeton, Kaempferia rotunda L., Alpinia pumila Hook. f., and Alpinia zerumbet Burtt. et Smith were: (1) pigment and epidermal type, (2) epidermal type, (3) air space type, and (4) chloroplast type, respectively. C. phaeocaulis, K. rotunda, and A. zerumbet showed a positive correlation between their total chlorophyll content and the change of light-response curves, whereas A. pumila showed a negative correlation at a light intensity of 1500 or 2000 μmol m−2 s−1. Although C. phaeocaulis, K. rotunda and A. pumila exhibited high enzymatic antioxidant activity in the non-variegated area, we found POD was widely distributed in the variegated area of A. zerumbet. This is the first study that explored the physical and chemical attributes in variegated and non-variegated areas of four Zingiberaceae plants, while also supplementing the existing research on variegated leaves of Zingiberaceae plants. Therefore, our findings will provide a reference for studying the foliar variegation of Zingiberaceae.

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Data Availability

The authors confirm that the most of data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article. In addition, The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, Chen, upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Hunan Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Program (Project D2022133/A2022005-11 to YY), the Key Project of Hunan Provincial Education Department (Project 18A492 to YY) and Shenzhen Urban Management Technology Project (Project 202007 to LY). The authors thank Ms. Chuqing Duan and Ms. Anne Triest for theirs English help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua, 418000, China

    Yang Yang, Bin Huang & Jun He

  2. Biology Department, Central Mindanao University, 8714, Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon, Philippines

    Yang Yang & Maria Melanie P. Medecilo-Guiang

  3. Laboratory of Southern Subtropical Plant Diversity, Fairylake Botanical Garden, Shenzhen & Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518004, Guangdong, China

    Leilei Yang

  4. Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration for Orchid Conservation and Utilization, Shenzhen, 518114, China

    Peng Chen

  5. Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Orchid Conservation and Utilization, The National Orchid Conservation Center of China and the Orchid Conservation & Research Center of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518114, China

    Peng Chen

Authors
  1. Yang Yang
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  2. Maria Melanie P. Medecilo-Guiang
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  3. Leilei Yang
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  4. Bin Huang
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  5. Jun He
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Contributions

YY, PC, LY, and MMG conceived and designed the study. Material preparation was performed by PC and LY. Experiment was completed by PC, LY, YY, BH, and JH. Data analysis was completed by YY, MMG, and PC. The first draft of the manuscript was written by YY. PC, MMG, and LY commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Leilei Yang or Peng Chen.

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Yang, Y., Medecilo-Guiang, M.M.P., Yang, L. et al. Structure and characteristics of foliar variegation in four species of medicinal Zingiberaceae. Braz. J. Bot 46, 423–432 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-023-00879-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-023-00879-8

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