Allelopathic effects of phenolic acids on seedling growth and photosynthesis in Rhododendron delavayi Franch.

Abstract

The effects of different concentrations of ferulic acid, chlorogenic acid, and protocatechuic acid were studied in a pot experiment to assess the response of Rhododendron delavayi seedlings. The results showed that three kinds of phenols promoted increases in chlorophyll (Chl) a, Chl b, total Chl, and carotenoid contents, but inhibited the accumulation of biomass. Low concentrations of ferulic acid significantly inhibited stomatal opening, the stomatal opening ratio, stomatal length and width. Chlorogenic acid and the moderate and high concentrations of ferulic acid also significantly inhibited stomatal density. Ferulic acid significantly inhibited net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance in seedlings, whereas chlorogenic acid significantly inhibited stomatal conductance. The low and moderate concentrations of chlorogenic acid significantly inhibited transpiration rate, and high concentrations of ferulic acid significantly inhibited the stomatal limitation value. The moderate concentration of protocatechuic acid significantly inhibited net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance. Ferulic acid exhibited a greater toxic effect than that of chlorogenic acid and protocatechuic acid for R. delavayi seedlings.

Keywords

• allelopathy; gas-exchange parameters; photosynthetic pigment content; redundancy analysis.