Seasonal changes in optically assessed epidermal phenolic compounds and chlorophyll contents in leaves of sessile oak (Quercus petraea): towards signatures of phenological stage
Juliette Louis A , Sylvie Meyer A D , Florence Maunoury-Danger A B , Chantal Fresneau A , Emmanuelle Meudec C and Zoran G. Cerovic AA Université Paris-Sud, Laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, UMR 8079, Orsay Cedex, F-91405; CNRS, Orsay Cedex, F-91405; AgroParisTech, Paris, F-75231, France.
B UMR 7618 – Université Paris-Diderot – Laboratoire Bioemco (Biogéochimie et écologie des milieux continentaux). Ecole Normale Supérieure, 46 rue d’Ulm, F-75230 Paris Cedex 05, France.
C UMR 1083 Sciences pour l’œnologie, Plate-forme Polyphénols, INRA, Université Montpellier 1, F-34000 Montpellier, France.
D Corresponding author. Email: sylvie.meyer@u-psud.fr
Functional Plant Biology 36(8) 732-741 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP09010
Submitted: 10 January 2009 Accepted: 22 June 2009 Published: 23 July 2009
Abstract
Seasonal patterns of dry mass invested in chlorophyll and epidermal phenolic compounds (EPhen) were investigated in vivo using optical methods, in leaves of 2-year-old oaks (Quercus petraea Matt. (Liebl.)) grown under semi-controlled conditions. The plasticity of the seasonal pattern was investigated by applying stem girdling treatment. In control young expanding leaves, leaf dry mass per area, dry mass investment in chlorophyll and abaxial EPhen content increased. In late May, at leaf maturity, these variables reached a plateau, and adaxial and abaxial EPhen contents became similar. Thereafter, as leaves aged, dry mass investment in chlorophyll gradually decreased, whereas it remained steady for EPhen. Girdling treatment impacted this seasonal pattern differently depending on the phenological stage. Treatment effects and their reversion revealed in vivo EPhen turnover. Finally, optical signatures of immature and mature leaf phenological stages with contrasting nitrogen and carbon economy were proposed, based on the relationship between the chlorophyll to EPhen ratio and the leaf nitrogen to carbon ratio.
Additional keywords: Dualex, girdling, leaf age, LMA, nitrogen, polyphenols, SPAD, UV absorption.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the CNRS, the company FORCE-A, and the Essonne country through the project ASTRE. We thank Claire Bouchut (laboratory ‘Science pour l’oenologie’, Montpellier, France) for technical assistance in HPLC analysis. We are grateful to Dr Gérard Lacroix (Laboratoire Bioemco, ENS, France), Dr Michael Danger (Laboratoire Bioemco, ENS, France), Marine Le Moigne (Force-A, Université Paris Sud, France) and Dr Erwin Dreyer (Ecologie et Ecophysiologie forestières, INRA-UHP1137, France) for very helpful comments on the manuscript. American Journal Experts (Durham, USA) reviewed the paper for English usage.
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