Induction of prenylated isoflavonoids and stilbenoids in legumes

The germination of legume seeds in the presence or absence of stress factors was studied with respect to compositional changes in prenylated isoflavonoids and stilbenoids. Different strategies were applied using (i) different types of legume seed, (ii) different stress factors i.e. biotic, abiotic and their combination, and (iii) different time point of application of the fungus. Mass spectrometric tools to better characterize the position of prenyl groups in the molecules were optimized. Isoflavonoids and stilbenoids appeared more inducible than flavonoids. Fungus was a more effective stress factor than light and wounding. The impact of fungus might be enhanced by combining it with other stress factors; the combination of fungus and light was more promising than that of fungus and wounding. The seeds of various legume species appeared to respond differently towards elicitation by Rhizopus during germination. The kind of molecules induced followed the phylogenetic relationship of the various species, but their amounts induced during germination, alone or combined with elicitation, did not. In terms of quantities of compounds induced, some species such as Glycine max, Phaseolus spp., Lupinus spp. and Arachis hypogaea were more promising than Vigna spp., Lablab purpureus and Psophocarpus tetragonolobus. Moreover, the fact that Rhizopus and Aspergillus could metabolize the stilbenoids induced during the process of simultaneous germination and elicitation of peanut seedlings showed that the type of fungus was a crucial parameter for optimizing accumulation of potentially bioactive compounds.