Research The nexian phalaris breeding programme

[neurobloom]

If coumarin and coumarin derivatives are common in poacea and extractable in a crude acid base like in the TLC protocol shouldn't we be seeing it very often in most phalaris samples? Why is it a rare occurrence?

 

[Transform]

If coumarin and coumarin derivatives are common in poacea and extractable in a crude acid base like in the TLC protocol shouldn't we be seeing it very often in most phalaris samples? Why is it a rare occurrence?

Common but not ubiquitous, perhaps? Their presence in other grasses serves as an indicator of plausibility, not a guarantee that my suggestion is correct. Only a definitive form of chemical analysis would settle this question.

 

[neurobloom]

Just remembered this paper:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379000888_A_review_of_phytoconstituents_and_biological_activities_of_genus_Phalaris

 

[Ivan Illich]

If coumarin and coumarin derivatives are common in poacea and extractable in a crude acid base like in the TLC protocol shouldn't we be seeing it very often in most phalaris samples? Why is it a rare occurrence?

Frontiers | The biosynthetic pathway of coumarin and its genetic regulation in response to biotic and abiotic stresses

Coumarins, a class of metabolites derived from the phenylpropanoid pathway, play critical roles in plant development and interactions with environmental fact...

www.frontiersin.org

(other paper is included as attachement)

It's hard to find any evidence supporting that coumarins are common in grasses. There are a few notable species like Hierochloe odorata and Anthoxanthum odoratum that are grasses. Those seem to an exception to the rule. That being said, phylogenetically they are not that far seperated from phalaris, they all belong to the subfamily pooideae, and they are found in the same sister clade "Poeae chloroplast group 1" according to this paper. But how they exactly are related is unclear. Other members of the highlighted clade have no evidence for containing coumarins.

UPDATE: After looking for more, I found that there is evidence that Avena sativa aka oats contains a coumarin called scopletin. Its in the same sister clade.

That being said, It could surely be possible. It's fluorescence is described as being very bright. So even if a little amount makes it through your mostly alkaloid specific separation method, you could see it. I wonder if the color would be the exact same though.