Arachidonic acid-dependent carbon-eight volatile synthesis from wounded liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha)

The liverwort Marchantia polymorpha emitted C8 volatiles mainly consisting of (R)-1-octen-3-ol and octan-3-one upon mechanical wounding. Hydrolysis and oxido-reduction employed in wounded tissues and in the tissues surrounding the wound controlled the emission of C8 volatiles. •Eight-carbon volatiles were rapidly formed after wounding Marchantia polymorpha.•1-Octen-3-ol was formed from 1-octen-3-yl acetate by a hydrolase.•Arachidonic acid and/or eicosapentaenoic acid was essential for formation of eight-carbon volatiles.•The formation of octan-3-one from 1-octen-3-ol was partly dependent on NAD(P)H. Eight-carbon (C8) volatiles, such as 1-octen-3-ol, octan-3-one, and octan-3-ol, are ubiquitously found among fungi and bryophytes. In this study, it was found that the thalli of the common liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, a model plant species, emitted high amounts of C8 volatiles mainly consisting of (R)-1-octen-3-ol and octan-3-one upon mechanical wounding. The induction of emission took place within 40min. In intact thalli, 1-octen-3-yl acetate was the predominant C8 volatile while tissue disruption resulted in conversion of the acetate to 1-octen-3-ol. This conversion was carried out by an esterase showing stereospecificity to (R)-1-octen-3-yl acetate. From the transgenic line of M. polymorpha (des6KO) lacking arachidonic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid, formation of C8 volatiles was only minimally observed, which indicated that arachidonic and/or eicosapentaenoic acids were essential to form C8 volatiles in M. polymorpha. When des6KO thalli were exposed to the vapor of 1-octen-3-ol, they absorbed the alcohol and converted it into 1-octen-3-yl acetate and octan-3-one. Therefore, this implied that 1-octen-3-ol was the primary C8 product formed from arachidonic acid, and further metabolism involving acetylation and oxidoreduction occurred to diversify the C8 products. Octan-3-one was only minimally formed from completely disrupted thalli, while it was formed as the most abundant product in partially disrupted thalli. Therefore, it is assumed that the remaining intact tissues were involved in the conversion of 1-octen-3-ol to octan-3-one in the partially disrupted thalli. The conversion was partly promoted by addition of NAD(P)H into the completely disrupted tissues, suggesting an NAD(P)H-dependent oxidoreductase was involved in the conversion.