Bioactive compounds induced in Physalis angulata L. by methyl-jasmonate: an investigation of compound accumulation patterns and biosynthesis-related candidate genes.

We employed both metabolomic and transcriptomic approaches to explore the accumulation patterns of physalins, flavonoids and chlorogenic acid in Physalis angulata and revealed the genes associated with the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds under methyl-jasmonate (MeJA) treatment. Physalis angulata L. is an annual Solanaceae plant with a number of medicinally active compounds. Despite the potential pharmacological benefits of P. angulata, the scarce genomic information regarding this plant has limited the studies on the mechanisms of bioactive compound biosynthesis. To facilitate the basic understanding of the main chemical constituent biosynthesis pathways, we performed both metabolomic and transcriptomic approaches to reveal the genes associated with the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds under methyl-jasmonate (MeJA) treatment. Untargeted metabolome analysis showed that most physalins, flavonoids and chlorogenic acid were significantly upregulated. Targeted HPLC-MS/MS analysis confirmed variations in the contents of two important representative steroid derivatives (physalins B and G), total flavonoids, neochlorogenic acid, and chlorogenic acid between MeJA-treated plants and controls. Transcript levels of a few steroid biosynthesis-, flavonoid biosynthesis-, and chlorogenic acid biosynthesis-related genes were upregulated, providing a potential explanation for MeJA-induced active ingredient synthesis in P. angulata. Systematic correlation analysis identified a number of novel candidate genes associated with bioactive compound biosynthesis. These results may help to elucidate the regulatory mechanism underlying MeJA-induced active compound accumulation and provide several valuable candidate genes for further functional study.