Abstract
Exposure of seeds to aerosol smoke or crude smoke extracts stimulates the germination of a number of fire-dependent and fire-independent plant species. We now report the identity of a germination-promoting compound present in plant- and cellulose-derived smoke. The structure of this compound, deduced from spectroscopic analysis and confirmed by synthesis, was shown to be that of the butenolide 3-methyl-2H-furo[2,3-c]pyran-2-one (1). Here we show that 1 promotes germination of a number of plant species at a level similar to that observed with plant-derived smoke water.
MeSH terms
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Asteraceae / drug effects
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Asteraceae / growth & development
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Biological Assay
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Cellulose
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Chemical Fractionation
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Furans / chemistry
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Furans / isolation & purification
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Furans / pharmacology*
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Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
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Germination / drug effects*
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Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
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Magnoliopsida / drug effects
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Magnoliopsida / growth & development
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Mass Spectrometry
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Molecular Structure
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Pyrans / chemistry
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Pyrans / isolation & purification
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Pyrans / pharmacology*
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Seeds / growth & development*
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Smoke*
Substances
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3-methyl-2H-furo(2,3-c)pyran-2-one
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Furans
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Pyrans
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Smoke
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Cellulose