Department of Oriental Medicinal Biotechnology, College of Life Science, Kyung Hee University, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, 17104, Republic of Korea.
Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University-University of Adelaide Joint Centre for Agriculture and Health, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 20040, People's Republic of China.
Plant Cell Rep. 2018 Mar;37(3):393-410. doi: 10.1007/s00299-017-2236-7. Epub 2017 Nov 17.
The dynamics of metabolites from leaves to roots of Panax ginseng during development has revealed the tissue-specific and year-specific metabolic networks. Being an essential Oriental medicinal plant, ginseng (Panax ginseng Meyer) is a slow-growing perennial herb-accumulating pharmaceutically active metabolites such as ginsenosides in roots during growth. However, little is known about how ginseng plants survive in the harsh environments such as winter cold and summer heat for a longer period and accumulates those active metabolites as the plant grows. To understand the metabolic kinetics in both source and sink organs such as leaves and roots of ginseng plant, respectively, and to assess the changes in ginsenosides biosynthesis during ginseng growth, we investigated the metabolic profiles from leaves and roots of 1-, 4-, and 6-year-old field-grown ginseng plants. Using an integrated non-targeted metabolomic approach, we identified in total 348 primary and secondary metabolites, which provided us for the first time a global metabolomic assessment of ginseng during growth, and morphogenesis. Strikingly, the osmoprotectants and oxidized chemicals were highly accumulated in 4- and 6-year-old ginseng leaves suggested that ginseng develop a wide range of metabolic strategies to adapt unfavorable conditions as they mature. In 6-year-old plants, ginsenosides were decreased in leaves but increased in roots up to 1.2- to sixfold, supporting the view that there is a long-distance transport of ginsenosides from leaves to roots as ginseng plants mature. Our findings provide insights into the metabolic kinetics during the development of ginseng plant and this could complement the pharmacological importance of ginseng and its compounds according to their age.
人参在发育过程中从叶片到根的代谢物动态揭示了组织特异性和年份特异性代谢网络。作为一种重要的东方药用植物,人参(Panax ginseng Meyer)是一种生长缓慢的多年生草本植物,在生长过程中会在根部积累具有药用活性的代谢物,如人参皂苷。然而,人们对人参植物如何在冬季寒冷和夏季炎热等恶劣环境中长时间生存以及随着植物生长积累这些活性代谢物知之甚少。为了了解人参植物源器官(如叶片)和汇器官(如根)中的代谢动力学,并评估人参生长过程中人参皂苷生物合成的变化,我们分别研究了 1 年、4 年和 6 年生田间种植人参的叶片和根的代谢谱。通过整合非靶向代谢组学方法,我们总共鉴定出 348 种初级和次级代谢物,这首次为我们提供了人参生长过程中整体代谢组学评估和形态发生的情况。引人注目的是,4 年和 6 年生人参叶片中高度积累了渗透调节剂和氧化化学品,这表明人参在成熟过程中发展了广泛的代谢策略以适应不利条件。在 6 年生植物中,人参皂苷在叶片中的含量下降,但在根中的含量增加了 1.2 至 6 倍,这支持了人参皂苷作为植物成熟时从叶片远距离运输到根的观点。我们的研究结果提供了人参植物发育过程中代谢动力学的见解,这可以根据其年龄补充人参及其化合物的药理学重要性。