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Phenolic Compounds of the Inner Bark of Betula pendula: Seasonal and Genetic Variation and Induction by Wounding

Journal of Chemical Ecology volume 38, pages 1410–1418 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

The contents of individual phenolic compounds in the inner bark of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) were analyzed by HPLC-DAD. Samples from 21 mature trees originating from three micropropagated parent trees were collected six times over a 1-year period. Significant seasonal variation in the quantities of ten compounds and four chromatographically unresolved compound pairs was found. A majority of the compounds also exhibited significant quantitative variation among birch clones. There were no qualitative differences associated with the season or among the clones. However, wounding of the bark induced the production of new types of bark phenolics: several ellagitannins were detected in the callus tissues of birch for the first time.

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Acknowledgments

This work was kindly supported by grants from the Emil Aaltonen Foundation, the Alfred Kordelin Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Niemi Foundation, and the Palomaa-Erikoski Scholarship Fund. Johanna Moilanen, Anu Tuominen, Matti Vihakas, and the anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for helpful comments on the manuscript.

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Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Department of Chemistry, University of Turku, FI-20014, Turku, Finland

    Jaana Liimatainen, Maarit Karonen, Jari Sinkkonen & Juha-Pekka Salminen

  2. Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, FI-20014, Turku, Finland

    Marjo Helander

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  1. Jaana Liimatainen
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  2. Maarit Karonen
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  3. Jari Sinkkonen
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  5. Juha-Pekka Salminen
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Correspondence to Jaana Liimatainen.

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Liimatainen, J., Karonen, M., Sinkkonen, J. et al. Phenolic Compounds of the Inner Bark of Betula pendula: Seasonal and Genetic Variation and Induction by Wounding. J Chem Ecol 38, 1410–1418 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-012-0199-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-012-0199-2

Keywords

  • Betula pendula
  • HPLC-DAD
  • Inner bark
  • Phenolics
  • Quantification
  • Seasonal variation