Histochemical and biochemical approaches to the study of phenolic compounds and peroxidases in needles of Norway spruce (Picea abies)

Abstract

The three youngest age-classes of needles of Norway spruce (Picea abies) were collected from four sites in the Krusne Hory Mountains (Czech Republic) characterized by different levels of damage caused by environmental pollution. Histochemical methods did not reveal any differences in localization of phenolics among the needles. Mesophyll cells close to the epidermis of needles and cells around resin ducts and substomatal cavities often accumulated higher amounts of phenolics than the rest of the mesophyll cells, but this was independent of age and damage. Needles of different age-and damage-class did not show any marked changes in general lignification pattern. However, a lower intensity of histochemical detection of lignin was observed in needles from the most damaged site. This finding was confirmed by chemical analysis using thioglycolic acid. Generally, the amount of lignin in mesophyll cells was lower in damaged trees than in healthy ones. Using the Folin-Ciocalteau method, no significant differences in the total content of phenolics were observed in the needles, although HPLC revealed marked alterations in the forms of seven phenolic acids. Concentrations of conjugated forms of phenolic acids (esters and glycosides) were higher in damaged needles (255n9 µg g −" f. wt) than in healthy needles (189n8 µg g −" f. wt). By contrast, content of esterified phenolic acids incorporated into cell walls was higher in needles from healthy trees (101n1 µg g −" f. wt) than in damaged needles (78n3 µg g −" f. wt). Marked differences were also observed in the activity of soluble peroxidases, although the activity of ionically bound forms was approximately the same in healthy and damaged needles. The total amounts of chlorophylls and carotenoids decreased as environmental damage increased.

Detection of Spatio-Temporal Changes of Norway Spruce Forest Stands in Ore Mountains Using Airborne Hyperspectral Imagery

“…compared to their western part. The observed gradient of vegetation damage is also in accordance with previous studies [26,27,5].…”

“…Ratios of photosynthetic pigments are sensitive indicators of air pollution [25,27]. The differences in C a /C b and C x /C ab ratios generally corresponded with the spatial gradient of forest physiological status observed by the used VIs in both compared years 1998 and 2013.…”

Detection of Spatio-Temporal Changes of Norway Spruce Forest Stands in Ore Mountains Using Landsat Time Series and Airborne Hyperspectral Imagery

“…Ratios of photosynthetic pigments are known to be sensitive to air pollution [58,61]. The differences in C a /C b and C x /C ab ratios generally corresponded with the spatial gradient of the forest physiological status observed by remote sensing tools in both comparison years 1998 and 2013.…”

Does the azimuth orientation of Norway spruce (Picea abies/L./Karst.) branches within sunlit crown part influence the heterogeneity of biochemical, structural and spectral characteristics of needles?

“…It is a commonly known fact that amount of photosynthetic pigments increases with the needle age of Norway spruce (Rock et al, 1988(Rock et al, , 1994Köstner et al, 1990;Soukupová et al, 2000) and other coniferous species, too. A similar trend was observed for the content of soluble phenolics (Giertych et al, 1999;Soukupová et al, 2001).…”