Dear All, I am trying to figure out whether increased contents of secondary compounds (most probably phenolic compounds) in plants may lead to higher d13C values (samples enriched in 13C) in bulk samples of plant leaves compared to leaf samples of control plants containing lower concentrations of phenolic compounds.
The question arose when 13C values of leaves were assessed for leaves that differed significantly in resistance to insect herbivores (presumably due to differences in phenolic compound content), and leaves with the highest resistance showed the highest d13C values (from my limited knowledge about 13C values of plant materials, I would have expected lower d13C values for plant material containing more secondary compounds). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thank you very much and best regards, Karsten XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Dr. Karsten Mody Institute of Plant Sciences Applied Entomology ETH Schmelzbergstrasse 9 / LFO CH-8092 Zurich Switzerland Tel: +41 (0)44 632 39 33 Fax: +41 (0)44 632 11 71
