Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2010 Dec 7;15(12):8933-52.
doi: 10.3390/molecules15128933.

Phenolics and plant allelopathy

Zhao-Hui Li  1 , Qiang Wang, Xiao Ruan, Cun-De Pan, De-An Jiang
Affiliations
Review

Phenolics and plant allelopathy

Zhao-Hui Li et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Phenolic compounds arise from the shikimic and acetic acid (polyketide) metabolic pathways in plants. They are but one category of the many secondary metabolites implicated in plant allelopathy. Phenolic allelochemicals have been observed in both natural and managed ecosystems, where they cause a number of ecological and economic problems, such as declines in crop yield due to soil sickness, regeneration failure of natural forests, and replanting problems in orchards. Phenolic allelochemical structures and modes of action are diverse and may offer potential lead compounds for the development of future herbicides or pesticides. This article reviews allelopathic effects, analysis methods, and allelopathic mechanisms underlying the activity of plant phenolic compounds. Additionally, the currently debated topic in plant allelopathy of whether catechin and 8-hydroxyquinoline play an important role in Centaurea maculata and Centaurea diffusa invasion success is discussed. Overall, the main purpose of this review is to highlight the allelopacthic potential of phenolic compounds to provide us with methods to solve various ecology problems, especially in regard to the sustainable development of agriculture, forestry, nature resources and environment conservation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Biosynthetic pathways of major allelopathic substances [9].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Main phenolic allelochemicals isolated from aqueous extracts of D. regia [15].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Three phenolic allelochemicals isolated from A. conyzoides rhizosphere soil [21].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Four phenolic allelochemicals isolated from Eucalyptus [23].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Two phenolic allelochemicals for cucumber bioassays [37].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Coumarin for lettuce bioassays [39].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Structures of tannic acid for plant enzyme-activities bioassays [42].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Mechanism of allelochemicals [9].
Figure 9
Figure 9
Structures of both enantiomers of catechin in C. maculosa root exudates [54].
Figure 10
Figure 10
Structure of8-hydroxyquinoline isolated from C. diffusa root exudates.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Some puative allelochemicals isolated from aqueous extract of P. schrenkiana litters.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rice E.L. Allelopathy. Academic Press Inc; Norman, Oklahoma: 1984.
    1. Weston L.A., Duke S.O. Weed and crop allelopathy. Plant Sci. 2003;22:367–389.
    1. Zeng R.S., Mallik A.U., Luo S.M. Allelopathy in Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC; New York, NY, USA: 2008.
    1. Molisch H. Der Einfluss einer Pflanze auf die andere-Allelopathie. Fischer; Jena, Austria: 1937.
    1. Singh H.P., Kohli R.K., Batish D.R. Allelopathy in agroecosystems: An overview. J. Crop Prod. 2001;4:1–41.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources