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Phenolic Chemistry of Coast Live Oak Response to Phytophthora ramorum Infection

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Abstract

Since the mid 1990s, Phytophthora ramorum has been responsible for the widespread mortality of tanoaks, as well as several oak species throughout California and Oregon forests. However, not all trees die, even in areas with high disease pressure, suggesting that some trees may be resistant to the pathogen. In this study, the chemical basis of host resistance was investigated. Three field experiments were carried out in California between December 2004 and September 2005. The levels of nine phenolic compounds (gallic acid, catechin, tyrosol, a tyrosol derivative, ellagic acid, and four ellagic acid derivatives) extracted from the phloem of trees that had been either artificially inoculated with P. ramorum or trees putatively infected with P. ramorum (based on canker symptoms) were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Significant differences in phenolic profiles were found between phloem sampled from the active margins of cankers, healthy phloem from asymptomatic trees, and phloem sampled 60 cm away from canker sites, although the magnitude and direction of the responses was not consistent across all experiments. Concentrations of gallic acid, tyrosol, and ellagic acid showed the greatest differences in these different tissues, but varied considerably across treatments. Gallic acid and tyrosol were tested in in vitro bioassays and showed strong dose-dependent inhibitory effects against P. ramorum, P. cinnamomi, P. citricola, and P. citrophthora. These results suggest that phloem chemistry varies in response to pathogen infection in California coast live oak populations and that changes in phloem chemistry may be related to apparently resistant phenotypes observed in the field.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Nadir Erbilgin, Tom Gordon, Gabriela Ritok-Owens, and Pavel Svihra for the assistance in the field and the lab, David Rizzo for providing the P. ramorum isolates, and Matthew Dileo for conducting the bioassay with P. ramorum. Special thanks to Larry Madden for the assistance with the statistical analyses and Duan Wang for conducting the fungal bioassays with P. cinnamomi, P. citricola, and P. citrophthora. Access to research sites was provided by Marin County Open Space District and China Camp State Park. Salaries and research support were provided by state funds appropriated to the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, the Ohio State University, and the U.S. Forest Service (04-CA-11244225-432).

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Author notes

  1. Alieta Eyles

    Present address: Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry/TIAR, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 12, Hobart, 7001, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University, 201 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Frances S. Ockels, Alieta Eyles & Pierluigi Bonello

  2. Center for Forestry and Integrated Hardwood Rangeland Management Program, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, 145 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Brice A. McPherson

  3. Division of Organisms and Environment, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, 201 Wellman Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    David L. Wood

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  1. Frances S. Ockels
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Correspondence to Alieta Eyles.

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Frances S. Ockels and Alieta Eyles contributed equally to the paper

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Ockels, F.S., Eyles, A., McPherson, B.A. et al. Phenolic Chemistry of Coast Live Oak Response to Phytophthora ramorum Infection. J Chem Ecol 33, 1721–1732 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-007-9332-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-007-9332-z

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