The formation of a tree's heartwood gives the wood properties such as natural decay resistance and aesthetic color, and often directly determines the value of wood products. Regulating the quantity ...and quality of heartwood is of great importance to the use of wood. However, the mechanism of heartwood formation has been poorly understood. Using Dalbergia odorifera as the study species, the number of starch grains, the morphology of the nuclei, the changes in the content of water and secondary metabolites were observed continuously in the radial direction of the xylem. The results show that from the outer toward inner sapwood, the starch grains are abundant, the length to diameter ratio of the nuclei is decreasing, and the morphology changes from elongated elliptical and then to round. In the outer transition zone, the starch grains begin to decrease abruptly and the nuclei shrink at a slower rate, with a radial width of approximately 2 mm. In the inner transition zone, the heartwood color begins to appear, the starch grains disappear and a few nuclei with reduced fluorescence are present, with a radial width of approximately 1 mm. Heartwood formation after complete disappearance of the nuclei. The moisture content of the heartwood is higher than that of the sapwood, and the inner transition zone is where the content rises. The secondary metabolites of the heartwood begin to accumulate in large quantities in the inner transition zone. Based on the physiological changes of parenchyma cells in the xylem, the radial width of the transition zone of Dalbergia odorifera is clearly defined as approximately 3 mm. Both the water and secondary metabolite abrupt changes occur at the final stage of programmed cell death, and neither is a direct cause of programmed cell death in parenchyma cells.
The purpose of this study was to characterize and quantify the chemical constituents of heartwood and sapwood of
extract in order to investigate the chemical components that determine the formation ...of heartwood's color. In this work, the types of pigments in heartwood and sapwood extract were analyzed using UV-Visible (UV) Spectrophotometer, and the main pigment components of heartwood and sapwood extract were identified and quantified using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS). The results showed that the difference in content of the main components between heartwood and sapwood of
was slight, and the lignin structure between heartwood and sapwood is basically identical; flavonoid pigments were found to be the primary chromophoric components of heartwood and sapwood extract. However, a total of 21 flavonoids were identified in heartwood and sapwood, of which the unique substances to heartwood were vitexin, isorhamnetin, and pelargonidin, and the content of isoliquiritigenin, formononetin, and biochanin A were 253, 37, and 583 times higher in the heartwood than in the sapwood, respectively, which could be the main pigment components affecting the significant color difference between heartwood and sapwood of
. These results will provide a foundation for revealing the underlying mechanism of color difference between heartwood and sapwood and provide a theoretical basis for wood coloring.
R2R3-MYB transcription factors (TFs) form one of the most important TF families involved in regulating various physiological functions in plants. The heartwood of
is a kind of high-grade mahogany and ...valuable herbal medicine with wide application. However, the role of R2R3-MYB genes in the growth and development of
, especially their relevance to heartwood formation, has not been revealed. A total of 126 R2R3-MYBs were screened from the
genome and named DodMYB1-126 based on their location on 10 chromosomes. The collinearity results showed that purification selection was the main driving force for the evolution of the R2R3-MYB TFs family, and whole genome/fragment replication event was the main form for expanding the R2R3-MYB family, generating a divergence of gene structure and function. Comparative phylogenetic analysis classified the R2R3-MYB TFs into 33 subfamilies. S3-7,10,12-13,21 and N4-7 were extensively involved in the metabolic process; S9,13,16-19,24-25 and N1-3,8 were associated with the growth and development of
. Based on the differential transcriptional expression levels of R2R3-MYBs in different tissues, DodMYB32, DodMYB55, and DodMYB89 were tentatively screened for involvement in the regulatory process of heartwood. Further studies have shown that the DodMYB89, localized in the nucleus, has transcriptional activation activity and is involved in regulating the biosynthesis of the secondary metabolites of heartwood by activating the promoters of the structural genes
and
. This study aimed to comprehensively analyze the functions of the R2R3-MYB TFs and screen for candidate genes that might be involved in heartwood formation of
.
Activated carbon fiber was prepared from liquefied wood by chemical activation with ZnCl2 (Z-LWACF) at different impregnation ratios, with a particular focus on its adsorption property, kinetic and ...isotherm. The characterization and properties of Z-LWACFs were investigated by nitrogen adsorption/desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), methylene blue (MB) and iodine adsorption. Two activation process methods were employed to prepare Z-LWACF and contrasted with others fibers. The results showed that the Z-LWACF obtained by one-step ZnCl2 activation present higher yields and specific surface area than others fibers. Besides, the change of MB adsorption value at different impregnation ratios was consistent with pore structure distribution above 1.5 nm pore size, indicating that larger micropores (1.5 to 2 nm) and mesopores played a major role in the MB adsorption by Z-LWACF. The kinetics of MB adsorption process was found to follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the adsorption rate was controlled by chemisorption. It was also found that MB adsroption by Z-LWACF belonged to monolayer adsorption and Z-LWACF was easy to adsorb MB.
Dalbergia odorifera is a precious tree species with unique economic and medicinal values, which is difficult to distinguish from Dalbergia tonkinensis by traditional identification methods such as ...morphological characteristics and wood structure characteristics. It has been demonstrated that the identification of tree species can be effectively achieved using DNA barcoding, but there is a lack of study of the combined sequences used as DNA barcodes in the two tree species. In this study, 10 single sequences and 4 combined sequences were selected for analysis, and the identification effect of each sequence was evaluated by the distance-based method, BLAST-based search, character-based method, and tree-based method. Among the single sequences and the combined sequences, the interspecies distance of trnH-psbA and ITS2 + trnH-psbA was greater than the intraspecies distance, and there was no overlap in their frequency distribution plots. The results of the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for the interspecies distance of each sequence showed that the interspecies differences of the single sequences except trnL-trnF, trnH-psbA, and ycf3 were significantly smaller than those of the combined sequences. The results of BLAST analysis showed that trnH-psbA could accurately identify D. odorifera and D. tonkinensis at the species level. In the character-based method, single sequences of trnL-trnF, trnH-psbA with all the combined sequences can be used for the identification of D. odorifera and D. tonkinensis. In addition, the neighbor-joining (NJ) trees constructed based on trnH-psbA and ITS2 + trnH-psbA were able to cluster D. odorifera and D. tonkinensis on two clades. The results showed that the character-based method with the BLOG algorithm was the most effective among all the evaluation methods, and the combined sequences can improve the ability to identify tree species compared with single sequences. Finally, the trnH-psbA and ITS2 + trnH-psbA were proposed as DNA barcodes to identify D. odorifera and D. tonkinensis.
Dalbergia tonkinensis is very similar to Dalbergia odorifera in material, texture, and other macroscopic characteristics, and a comparison of the commonalities and differences in the chemical ...composition of the extractives may help to distinguish the two. However, the chemical composition of Dalbergia tonkinensis heartwood is unknown. The total flavonoid content of Dalbergia tonkinensis heartwood was determined to range between 49.67 to 101.95 mg, which indicated that Dalbergia tonkinensis is as equally rich in flavonoids as Dalbergia odorifera. Thirty-one flavonoids were identified via ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in Dalbergia tonkinensis. Among them, the contents of 15 medicinal active flavonoids with were determined, and the liquiritigenin, naringenin, formononetin, pinocembrin, and biochanin A contents were found to be high. The 12 volatile compositions of Dalbergia tonkinensis heartwood identified via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were very similar to those of Dalbergia odorifera and were dominated by trans-nerolidol, caryophyllene oxide, and eudesmol. The relationship between the chemical composition of Dalbergia tonkinensis and Dalbergia odorifera heartwood extracts was determined via a principal component analysis, and the results indicated that there was no significant difference in chemical composition between the two. This suggested that Dalbergia tonkinensis could be used as a potential substitute for Dalbergia odorifera.
To analyze the chemical composition and evaluate the potential commercial value of
leaves, the chemical component and content of the essential oils (EOs), fatty acids (FAs), polyphenols and ...flavonoids in the leaves of
were studied. The composition of the EOs obtained by simultaneous distillation extraction (SDE) (at the yield of 0.092%) and hydro-distillation (HD) (at the yield of 0.050%) from
leaves was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Seventy-six compounds were identified and the major compounds were phytol (22.5–24.3%), 4-vinylguaiacol (8.7–12.7%), dihydroedulan II (7.4–11.2%), γ-elemene (5.1–6.2%), cedrol (2.8–6.1%), coumaran (0.9–3.1%) and hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (2.5–2.7%). The FA yield extracted by ultrasound was 1.145% (w/w), and the most abundant FA components were palmitic acid (C16:0), oleic acid (C18:1) and linoleic acid (C18:2) in leaves. The results of the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoli-ne-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS
) radical scavenging experiments demonstrated that the EOs and FAs possess strong antioxidant activity. The ethanol extract of the leaves had a high polyphenol content 16.00 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) g
dry weight (DW) and flavonoid content 8.92 mg rutin equivalent (RE) g
DW. This research has determined qualitatively and quantitatively the isoflavonoids (biochanin A, isoliquiritigenin, tectorigenin and genistein) by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS). The phytochemical analysis (EOs, FAs and flavonoids) of the extract showed that the
leaf is a rich source of high bioactive compounds and might have the potential to be recommended for further cosmetics, food and pharmaceutical applications.
Heartwood has a high economic value because of its natural durability, beautiful color, special aroma, and richness in active ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine. However, the mechanism ...of heartwood formation remains unclear. Dalbergia odorifera was selected as the object of research to analyze this variation in the chemical composition of sapwood, transition zone, and heartwood as well as to elucidate the relationship between this variation and the formation of heartwood. The variation of secondary metabolites was analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, the variation of lignin was analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ultraviolet visible spectrophotometry, and the variation law of mineral elements was analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results demonstrated that contents of characteristic secondary metabolites in Dalbergia odorifera were mainly distributed in heartwood (84.3–96.8%), increased from the outer to inner layers of the xylem, and sudden changes occurred in the transition zone (the fourth growth ring). The Dalbergia odorifera lignin can be identified as typical “syringyl–guaiacyl (S–G)” lignin, and the color darkened from the outside to the inside. The results demonstrated that there were more benzene rings and conjugated C=O structures in the heartwood. Additionally, the variation of minerals in the xylem was related to elemental types; the average concentrations of Mg, Ca, Fe and Sr were higher in the heartwood than in the sapwood, whereas the concentrations of K and Zn were higher in the sapwood than in the heartwood owing to the reabsorption of elements. The concentrations of Na and Cu were similar in the heartwood and sapwood. The composition and structural characteristics of secondary metabolites, lignin, and mineral elements in the three typical xylem regions (sapwood, transition zone and heartwood) of Dalbergia odorifera changed. The most abrupt change occurred in the narrow xylem transition zone, which is the key location involved in heartwood formation in Dalbergia odorifera.
The purpose of this study was to characterize and quantify the chemical constituents of heartwood and sapwood of Dalbergia oliveri extract in order to investigate the chemical components that ...determine the formation of heartwood's color. In this work, the types of pigments in heartwood and sapwood extract were analyzed using UV-Visible (UV) Spectrophotometer, and the main pigment components of heartwood and sapwood extract were identified and quantified using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS). The results showed that the difference in content of the main components between heartwood and sapwood of Dalbergia oliveri was slight, and the lignin structure between heartwood and sapwood is basically identical; flavonoid pigments were found to be the primary chromophoric components of heartwood and sapwood extract. However, a total of 21 flavonoids were identified in heartwood and sapwood, of which the unique substances to heartwood were vitexin, isorhamnetin, and pelargonidin, and the content of isoliquiritigenin, formononetin, and biochanin A were 253, 37, and 583 times higher in the heartwood than in the sapwood, respectively, which could be the main pigment components affecting the significant color difference between heartwood and sapwood of Dalbergia oliveri. These results will provide a foundation for revealing the underlying mechanism of color difference between heartwood and sapwood and provide a theoretical basis for wood coloring.
R2R3-MYB transcription factors (TFs) form one of the most important TF families involved in regulating various physiological functions in plants. The heartwood of Dalbergia odorifera is a kind of ...high-grade mahogany and valuable herbal medicine with wide application. However, the role of R2R3-MYB genes in the growth and development of D. odorifera, especially their relevance to heartwood formation, has not been revealed. A total of 126 R2R3-MYBs were screened from the D. odorifera genome and named DodMYB1-126 based on their location on 10 chromosomes. The collinearity results showed that purification selection was the main driving force for the evolution of the R2R3-MYB TFs family, and whole genome/fragment replication event was the main form for expanding the R2R3-MYB family, generating a divergence of gene structure and function. Comparative phylogenetic analysis classified the R2R3-MYB TFs into 33 subfamilies. S3-7,10,12-13,21 and N4-7 were extensively involved in the metabolic process; S9,13,16-19,24-25 and N1-3,8 were associated with the growth and development of D. odorifera. Based on the differential transcriptional expression levels of R2R3-MYBs in different tissues, DodMYB32, DodMYB55, and DodMYB89 were tentatively screened for involvement in the regulatory process of heartwood. Further studies have shown that the DodMYB89, localized in the nucleus, has transcriptional activation activity and is involved in regulating the biosynthesis of the secondary metabolites of heartwood by activating the promoters of the structural genes DodI2’H and DodCOMT. This study aimed to comprehensively analyze the functions of the R2R3-MYB TFs and screen for candidate genes that might be involved in heartwood formation of D. odorifera.