Abstract:

Activities of carboxylesterase and glutathione-S-transferase in Apriona germari larvae which feeding on eight different kinds of poplar trees were tested.The results showed that the activities of the two enzymes were significantly different when the larvae feeding on different poplar trees.The contents of fourteen secondary metabolites in eight poplar trees were also tested with the method of high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC).By cluster analysis the eight poplar trees were divided into groups.One group includes P.canadensis,P.×euraericana cv.“I-214”,P.×beijingensis,J-2 poplar,J-1 poplar and P.canadensis cv.“Shanhaiguanensis”.The other group includes P.tomentosa, P.alba var. pyramidalis.Stepwise regression analysis was carried out to test the relationship between the activities of the above enzymes and secondary metabolites of poplar trees.The analysis result demonstrated that the contents of phenol and phyadroxybenzoic acid decreased together with the increase of carboxylesterase activity while the contents of syringic acid and chlorogenic acid increased,but the content of ferulic acid decreased together with increasing of glutathione-S-transferase activity while the content of phenol in poplar trees increased.

Key words: Apriona germari, Carboxylesterase, Glutathione-S-transferase, Poplar trees, Secondary metabolites