A heartwood norlignan, agatharesinol, was generated in sapwood during withering of a sugi (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) log
2004
Yoshida, K. (Forestry and Forest Products Research Inst., Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan)) | Hiraide, M. | Nishiguchi, M. | Hishiyama, S. | Kato, A.
Abstract Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) heartwood contains characteristic phenolic compounds called norlignans, which are synthesized during heartwood formation. The pathways of norlignan biosynthesis are unknown. Norlignans have been reported to generate in sapwood during withering of C. japonica logs. Assuming that this phenomenon would be helpful for studying the mechanisms of norlignan biosyathesis, we investigated the composition of norlignans generated in the withering sapwood of C. japonica, taking the changes of moisture content into consideration. Wood discs were collected over 70 days from a log stored indoors. The level of a single norlignan species gradually increased in the inner sapwood and reached a maximum on the 41st* day after cutting, when the moisture contents of the sapwood had dropped to the level observed in the transition zone immediately after cutting. The norlignan was identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry as agatharesinol, a typical heartwood norlignan of C. japonica. These results show that the generation of norlignans in sapwood of cut logs provides a useful model system for studying the molecular mechanisms of norlignan biosynthesis.
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