Claim · model-written summary
The authors attribute red boxwood leaves to relative carotenoid enrichment after chlorophyll loss rather than anthocyanin synthesis.
- Taxon
- boxwoode0
- Outcome
- leaf reddeninge0
- Qualifier
- relative enrichment of carotenoids following chlorophyll loss under photoinhibitory conditionse0
Not reportedMaterialGeneCompoundOrgan / stageInteractorInteractor roleSecond interactorSecond interactor roleTreatmentComparatorSettingDirectionValue
Verbatim
e0“leaf reddening in boxwood is not due to anthocyanin synthesis but rather to a relative enrichment of carotenoids following chlorophyll loss under photoinhibitory conditions”
Title
Takafumi Mizuno; Yuki Minatani; Mayuko Hara Ecological Research 2026. doi:10.1111/1440-1703.70076
Other claims from this paper (9)
- Association B. microphylla leaves on ultramafic soils turned bright red each winter, whereas leaves from non-ultramafic sites remained mostly green.
- Association Crimson coloration coincided with a seasonal decline in leaf nitrogen.
- Association Crimson coloration coincided with a seasonal decline in chlorophyll content.
- Intervention effect Light exposure and sucrose addition promoted chlorophyll degradation.
- Intervention effect Light exposure and sucrose addition increased the Car/Chl ratio by more than 20%.
- Intervention effect Under darkness, sucrose enhanced pigment retention.
- Intervention effect Under darkness, nitrogen enhanced pigment retention.
- Observation The Car/Chl ratio ranked highest in water-only medium, followed by N-only medium, then multi-nutrient medium.
- Mechanism The authors infer that high irradiance, low temperature and nitrogen deficiency on ultramafic soils promote the crimson phenotype.