Diarylheptanoids as markers for chemotaxonomy

What is it about?

Species of the genus Alnus are important nitrogen-fixing forest tree species. They exhibit high phenotypic variability, which sometimes aggravates the determination of species. Situation is even more complicated with hybridization events. This study explores the possibility of using diarylheptanoids, secondary metabolites isolated from Alnus species, as chemotaxonomic markers for distinguishing between black (Alnus glutinosa) and gray alder (Alnus incana) and for pointing to the hybrids between the two.

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