Laboratory of Sustainable Utilization of Panax notoginseng Resources, State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Key Laboratory of Panax notoginseng in Yunnan Province, Panax notoginseng Research Institute in Yunnan Province, Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, 650500, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Analytic & Testing Research Center of Yunnan, Kunming University of Science and Technology, 650500, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
J Plant Physiol. 2021 Aug;263:153466. doi: 10.1016/j.jplph.2021.153466. Epub 2021 Jun 26.
Panax notoginseng (Bruk.) FH Chen is a valuable traditional herb in China, with saponins being the main medicinal components in its roots. However, leaf diseases are a major factor limiting growth and production of P. notoginseng. Melatonin is a ubiquitous signaling molecule associated with abiotic stress resistance. In this study, we investigated the role of melatonin in leaf disease resistance of P. notoginseng in field conditions. Additionally, saponin concentrations were analyzed to evaluate the suitability of melatonin use in agricultural practice. Our results showed that exogenous application of melatonin promoted the endogenous phytomelatonin accumulation via upregulation of genes involved in its biosynthesis. The application of 10 μM melatonin decreased the incidence of leaf diseases (gray mold, round spot, and black spot) by about 40% compared with the solvent control, which might have been due to the increased expression of genes associated with immunity and disease resistance. Furthermore, concentrations of saponins and expression of their biosynthesis-related genes were significantly increased by melatonin. Taken together, the data presented here suggested that melatonin could be used in agricultural management of P. notoginseng because it increased leaf disease resistance and biosynthesis of saponins.
三七（Panax notoginseng (Bruk.) FH Chen）是中国一种有价值的传统草药，其根中的皂苷是主要的药用成分。然而，叶片病害是限制三七生长和生产的主要因素。褪黑素是一种与非生物胁迫抗性相关的普遍信号分子。在本研究中，我们在田间条件下研究了褪黑素在三七叶片病害抗性中的作用。此外，还分析了皂苷浓度，以评估褪黑素在农业实践中的适用性。我们的结果表明，外源施用褪黑素通过上调参与其生物合成的基因来促进内源性植物褪黑素的积累。与溶剂对照相比，应用 10 μM 褪黑素可将叶片病害（灰霉病、圆斑病和黑斑病）的发病率降低约 40%，这可能是由于与免疫和抗病性相关的基因表达增加所致。此外，褪黑素还显著增加了皂苷的浓度和其生物合成相关基因的表达。综上所述，这些数据表明，褪黑素可用于三七的农业管理，因为它可以提高叶片病害抗性和皂苷的生物合成。
