Topochemical Characterisation of Phenolic Extractives in Discoloured Beechwood (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Holzforschung ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Koch ◽  
J. Puls ◽  
J. Bauch

Summary The topochemical distribution of phenolic extractives in steamed and kiln-dried beechwood with discolourations was investigated on a cellular level by using scanning UV microspectrophotometry (UMSP). For the chemical characterisation of accessory compounds, acetone and methanol extracts of the discoloured beechwood were separated by accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and analysed with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The UV microscopic investigations reveal that the accessory compounds responsible for the discolouration of beechwood are mainly restricted to the longitudinal and ray parenchyma cells and the lumen of vessels. The detected extractives are characterised by high UV absorbance values and an absorbance maximum in a wavelength range between 280 and 290 nm. The separation of the acetone and methanol extracts of discoloured beechwood shows the presence of different low molecular phenols such as catechin and 2,6-dimethoxybenzochinon, which are transformed into high condensation compounds during steaming and kiln-drying.

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 251
Author(s):  
Katsushi Kuroda ◽  
Kenichi Yamane ◽  
Yuko Itoh

Although the radial movement of minerals in tree trunks is a widely accepted phenomenon, experimental evidence of their movement in standing trees and underlying mechanisms is very limited. Previously, we clarified that cesium (Cs) artificially injected into the outer part of the sapwood of standing Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) trunks moved to the inner part of the sapwood, including the intermediate wood, via active transport by xylem parenchyma cells and diffusion through cell walls and then moved into the heartwood by diffusion. To understand the mechanism underlying the radial movement of minerals in the standing tree trunk, it is necessary to clarify their movement in the opposite direction. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the radial movement of minerals from inside to outside in the trunks of standing trees at the cellular level. For this, a long hole across the center part of the trunk, which reached the heartwood, intermediate wood, and sapwood, was made in standing Japanese cedar trunks, and a solution of stable isotope Cs was continuously injected into the hole for several days as a tracer. The injected part of the trunk was collected after being freeze-fixed with liquid nitrogen, and the frozen sample was subjected to analysis of Cs distribution at the cellular level using cryo-scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The Cs injected into the inner sapwood or intermediate wood rapidly moved toward the outer sapwood via xylem ray parenchyma cells together with diffusion through the cell walls. In contrast, the Cs injected into the heartwood barely moved to the sapwood, although it reached a part of the inner intermediate wood. These results suggest that minerals in xylem ray parenchyma cells in the sapwood are bidirectionally supplied to each other; however, the minerals accumulated in the heartwood may not be supplied to living cells.


IAWA Journal ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat Denne ◽  
Siân Turner

Differences between the ray structure of rootwood and stemwood were analysed in 11 species from 5 families of gymnosperms. Rootwood was consistently found to have fewer ray tracheids, with ray parenchyma cells which were taller axially, wider tangentially, but shorter radially, and had more pits per cross-field than stemwood. A scale for quantifying types of cross-field pitting is proposed, and statistically significant differences in type and diameter of cross-field pitting were found between rootwood and stemwood of most species sampled. These structural differences have practical implications for identification of gymnosperm roots, and for distinguishing between rootwood and stemwood.


IAWA Journal ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat Denne ◽  
Peter Gasson

Differences in ray structure between root- and stem-wood of softwoods can cause confusion in identifying roots using keys based on stem-wood anatomy. Comparison of root- and stem-wood rays of Larix decidua showed root-wood had fewer ray tracheids, taller, wider but shorter ray parenchyma cells, and larger cross-field pits than stem-wood. The implications of these differences are considered in relation to the identification and function of roots.


IAWA Journal ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuaki Sakamoto ◽  
Yuzou Sano

Water conduction and wood anatomy of Salix sachalinensis attacked by watermark disease were investigated. The internal symptom, the watermark, appeared as a brown to brown-black stained zone in sapwood. Dye injection tests revealed that water conduction did not take place in the watermark. However, soft X-ray photography and cryo-scanning electron microscopy revealed that the watermark had a high moisture level. In the watermark, some of the vessels were plugged with tyloses and masses of bacteria, and some of the ray parenchyma cells caused necrosis. Hence, the non-conductive watermark in sapwood can be considered similar to discoloured wood or wetwood.


IAWA Journal ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarina Čufar ◽  
Jožica Gričar ◽  
Martin Zupančič ◽  
Gerald Koch ◽  
Uwe Schmitt

Evaluating the state of deterioration of water-logged archaeological wood is necessary in order to select treatments for its conservation and storage, particularly in the case of valuable archaeological artefacts. For this purpose archaeological wood of ash (Fraxinus sp.) and oak (Quercus sp.) buried in water-logged conditions at prehistoric settlements on the Ljubljansko barje (Ljubljana moor), Slovenia, aged approx. 5,200 and 4,500 years, was investigated by means of light microscopy (LM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and cellular UV-microspectrophotometry (UMSP). LM and TEM revealed that the ash wood aged 5,200 years was the least preserved. The secondary walls of fibres, vessels and parenchyma cells were considerably thinner than in normal wood, indicating distinct degradation. TEM and UMSP additionally revealed strong delignification of the remaining parts of the secondary walls of all cell types. The compound middle lamellae appeared structurally intact, but had lower UV-absorbance than normal wood of the same species. The cell corners were topochemically unchanged, as shown by high analogue UV-absorbance. The UV-absorbance maxima at a wavelength of 278 nm corresponded to those of hardwood lignins. The oak heartwood was generally better preserved than the ash wood. Within each species, the 4,500- year-old samples generally appeared better preserved than those 5,200 years old.


1960 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Cronshaw

Observstion in the electron microscope of carbon replicas of the pits of vessels, ray parenchyma cells, fibres, and tracheids of Eucalyptus regnans has shown the detailed structure of the pit borders and the pit closing membranes. In all cases in the mature wood the primary wall is left apparently without modification as the pit membrane. Unlike the borders of the pits of fibre tracheids and tracheids, the pit borders of the vessels are not separate; the cellulose microfibrils of a border may be common to several pits. The pit borders of fibre traoheids and tracheids are developed as separate entities and have a structure similar to the pit borders of softwood tracheids. The structure of the secondary wall layers associated with the pits is described and related to the structure of the pits. The fine structural features of the pits, especially of the pit closing membranes, are discussed in relation to the movement of liquids into wood.


1974 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 211 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Scurfield ◽  
CA Anderson ◽  
ER Segnit

Scanning electron microscopy has been used to examine silica isolated by chemical means from the wood of 32 species of woody perennial. The silica consists of aggregate grains lying free in the lumina or in ray and xylem parenchyma cells in 24 of the species. It occurs as dense silica in the other species, filling the lumina or lining the internal surfaces of vessels (and fibres) in all cases except Gynotroches axillaris where it is deposited in ray parenchyma cells. Infrared spectra and X-ray diffraction diagrams, obtained for specimens of both sorts of silica, are indistinguishable from those for amorphous silica. Aggregate grain and dense silicas are also alike in that their differential thermal analysis curves show a rather broad endothermic peak between 175° and 205°C. The results are discussed in relation to possible modes of deposition of the two sorts of silica and the tendency for silica in ray parenchyma cells to be associated with polyphenols.


1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.C. Yang

Survival rate and the newly developed nuclear irregularity index (NII) of sapwood ray parenchyma cells were studied within single trees of four species: Pinusbanksiana Lamb., Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P., Abiesbalsamea (L.) Mill., and Populustremuloides Michx. The survival rate of ray parenchyma cells is defined as the number of living earlywood ray parenchyma cells in uniseriate rays, divided by the total number of dead and living ray parenchyma cells recorded, multiplied by 100. NII is defined as the ratio of the number of irregularly shaped nuclei of uniseriate ray parenchyma cells to the total number of the irregular and regular nuclei recorded in earlywood, multiplied by 100. The location where death of ray parenchyma cells was first seen in the sapwood varied with species from the second to the seventh growth ring, counted from the cambium. In general, the marginal cells in the outer sapwood died earlier in a given growth ring than the central cells. The survival rate of the sapwood ray parenchyma cells decreased curvilinearly from the outer or middle sapwood towards the boundary of sapwood and heartwood. Based on survival rate classification, Pinusbanksiana and Populustremuloides are type II species, in which some ray parenchyma cells die in the middle or inner sapwood and the number of dead cells increases from the middle sapwood towards the heartwood. Piceamariana and Abiesbalsamea are type III species, in which some ray parenchyma cells die in outer sapwood and the number of dead cells increases from the outer sapwood towards the heartwood. NII increased from the middle of the sapwood towards the sapwood–heartwood boundary and reached its maximum at the growth ring immediately adjacent to the heartwood. NII increased from May to a maximum in the middle of the growing season and then decreased sharply. The months of sharpest decline of the NII in Pinusbanksiana, Piceamariana, and Populustremuloides were August, July–August, and August–October, respectively. In Abiesbalsamea no sharp decline of NII was observed. The findings of this study are in agreement with those of other investigators who used different criteria to indicate the initiation time of heartwood formation. Thus it appears that NII can be added to the list of indicators that pinpoint the initiation time of heartwood formation.


IAWA Journal ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhang Xinying ◽  
Pieter Baas ◽  
Alberta M. W. Mennega

The wood anatomy of Bhesa sinica (Chang ' Liang) Chang ' Liang, the only species of the genus occurring in China, is described in detail and compared with other Celastraceae. Bhesa sinica closely resembles other species of the genus, in e. g. vessels mainly in radial multiples, exclusively scalariform perforations, large and (almost) simple vessel-ray pits; parenchyma in fine irregular bands, in long (over 8-celled) strands; thick-walled, non septate libriform fibres; 1-5-seriate heterocellular rays, and prismatic crystals in chambered axial and ray parenchyma cells. This combination of characters is not known to occur in any of the other genera of the Celastraceae, and most individual wood anatomical character states of Bhesa are also unusual within the family. The isolated position of the genus in the Celastraceae is discussed.


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