2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Ecosystem ecology of the polyphenols that link herbivory defense with a detritus food chain in a forest
| Project/Area Number |
15370011
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Ecology/Environment
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| Research Institution | KYOTO UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
KITAYAMA Kanehiro Kyoto University, Center for Ecological Research, Professor, 生態学研究センター, 教授 (20324684)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2006
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| Keywords | Polyphenol / Polyphenol-Protein Complex / Recalcitrant organic matter / Soil water / Nitrogen cycle / Soil organic matter / Ecosystem ecology / Detritus chain |
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| Research Abstract |
The purpose of this study was to investigate the flow of polyphenols, that were produced by plants as secondary metabolites, in the loop of intact leaves-litter-soils, and their ecosystem consequences in a forest ecosystem. A hydrophobic fraction of dissolved organic matter was extracted from soil water with DAX-8 resin. The protein included in the hydrophobic fraction was hydrolyzed with 6N HCl et 120℃, and the concentrations of amino acids were determined on a HPLC. The methods applied to the soil water collected from two evergreen broad-leaved forests of contrasting soil nutrient status suggested that consistently greater concentrations of dissolved total phenolics occurred in the nutrient-poor forest, and that the concentration of dissolved protein was significantly positively correlated with the concentration of dissolved phenolics, suggesting the existence of polyphenol-protein complexes. The former pattern appeared to be caused by the consistently grater concentrations of condensed tannin in intact leaves in the nutrient-poor forest. Artificially synthesized polyphenol-protein complexes were extremely recalcitrant when soil microbes were added and inoculated. Surface soils collected from underneath five trees each from five species of wide polyphenol variability demonstrated a significant positive correlation between polyphenol-oxidase activities and total-phenolics concentrations. The above findings suggested that the polyphenols produced by trees were bound with protein in soils or in soil water to form a recalcitrant matter, and affected a subsequent soil nitrogen cycle.
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Research Products
(12 results)
