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Evidence Does not Support a Role for Gallic Acid in Phragmites australis Invasion Success

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Abstract

Gallic acid has been reported to be responsible for the invasive success of nonnative genotypes of Phragmites australis in North America. We have been unable to confirm previous reports of persistent high concentrations of gallic acid in the rhizosphere of invasive P. australis, and of high concentrations of gallic acid and gallotannins in P. australis rhizomes. The half-life of gallic acid in nonsterile P. australis soil was measured by aqueous extraction of soils and found to be less than 1 day at added concentrations up to 10,000 μg g−1. Furthermore, extraction of P. australis soil collected in North Carolina showed no evidence of gallic acid, and extractions of both rhizomes and leaves of samples of four P. australis populations confirmed to be of invasive genotype show only trace amounts of gallic acid and/or gallotannins. The detection limits were less than 20 μg gallic acid g−1 FW in the rhizome samples tested, which is approximately 0.015 % of the minimum amount of gallic acid expected based on previous reports. While the occurrence of high concentrations of gallic acid and gallotannins in some local populations of P. australis cannot be ruled out, our results indicate that exudation of gallic acid by P. australis cannot be a primary, general explanation for the invasive success of this species in North America.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (CHE/MRI-0922921) for the JEOL ECS-400 NMR spectrometer used in these studies, and by the Choose Ohio First Scholarship program of the Ohio Board of Regents (JA). Dr. Eric Bodle and Dr. Frank Bockhoff of WIL Research (Ashland, OH) provided assistance with LC-MS analysis of 5-HMF. Dr. Soren Brauner provided technical assistance with the genotyping techniques used in this study, and Dr. Ann Hagerman advised regarding the analytical procedures for gallic acid and gallotannins. Dr. Leslie Weston and Dr. Udo Blum provided helpful comments which improved this manuscript. The Ashland University Marine Biology class (BIO 412) assisted with the collection of samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Ashland University, Ashland, OH, 44805, USA

    Jeffrey D. Weidenhamer, Mei Li & Robert G. Bergosh

  2. Department of Biology/Toxicology, Ashland University, Ashland, OH, 44805, USA

    Joshua Allman & Mason Posner

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  1. Jeffrey D. Weidenhamer
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Correspondence to Jeffrey D. Weidenhamer.

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Supplemental Fig. 1

Mass spectrum of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural isolated from Phragmites australis extract (A) compared to NIST library spectrum (B). (JPEG 56 kb)

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Supplemental Fig. 2

Mass spectrum of suspected 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol isolated from Phragmites australis extract (A) compared to NIST library spectrum (B). (JPEG 54 kb)

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(TIFF 173 kb)

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Weidenhamer, J.D., Li, M., Allman, J. et al. Evidence Does not Support a Role for Gallic Acid in Phragmites australis Invasion Success. J Chem Ecol 39, 323–332 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-013-0242-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-013-0242-y

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