Relations of cell wall bound peroxidases, phenols and lignin in needles of Serbian spruce Picea omorika (Pančić) Purkynĕ in the natural habitat

•In ionic and covalent POD fractions individual isoforms were analyzed.•RDA was used to study enzymes and phenols/lignin.•Lignin was in high positive correlation with five covalent POD isoforms.•Cell wall bound phenols were in high positive correlation with ionic POD isoforms.

The habitat of Picea omorika (Pančić) Purkynĕ, Serbian spruce, is characterized by extremely variable environmental conditions. Relations between the activities of cell wall bound peroxidase (POD) and contents of lignin and cell wall bound phenols were studied in needles of Serbian spruce, in the natural habitat on Mountain Tara. We intended to see, by using Redundancy Analysis, if the yearly peaks of activities of cell wall bound enzymes correspond to the cell wall bound phenols and lignin contents, and whether this relation contributes to the adaptation of Serbian spruce to severe habitat. The highest lignin content was found in spring and it was in high positive correlation with the activities of five covalent POD isoforms. The contents of cell wall bound phenols were lowest in spring and higher in summer and autumn, being in high positive correlation with ionic POD isoforms. The results indicate that relation found between ionic POD isoforms and cell wall bound phenols, as well as between covalent isoforms and lignin may be related to the environmental conditions.