Zhao Yulu, Ma Yucong, Li Jiawei, Liu Bin, Liu Xiaoqing, Zhang Jianheng, Zhang Min, Wang Chunmei, Zhang Liping, Lv Wei, Mu Guojun
North China Key Laboratory for Crop Germplasm Resources of Education Ministry, Laboratory of Hebei Provincial Crop Germplasm Resources, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China.
National Semi-arid Agricultural Engineering Technology Research Center, Shijiazhuang, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2022 Oct 19;13:964558. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.964558. eCollection 2022.
Quinoa ( Willd.) contains various physiologically active substances, including vitamins, polyphenols, flavonoids, phytosterols, and saponins. Research showed that saponins were the protective substances in the outer layer of quinoa seeds to defend against microbes, herbivores, and insects. Because the aglycones of quinoa saponins are triterpenoids, they are called triterpenoid saponins (TSs). In addition, the presence of TS imparted bitterness in quinoa and resulted in anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, the seeds of low-saponin quinoa, NT376-2 (N), and high-saponin quinoa, B-12071(B), at 30 and 60 days after flowering (DAF) were used to measure the TS content and evaluated for their transcriptomic and metabolomic profiles. The amounts of TS were found to significantly differ between all possible comparisons: N and B at 30 DAF (N1__B1), N and B at 60 DAF (N2__B2), N at 30 DAF and 60 DAF (N1__N2), and B at 30 DAF and 60 DAF (B1__B2). RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and revealed 14,703 upregulated DEGs and 26,267 downregulated DEGs in the four comparison groups. The 311 overlapping DEGs found in the four comparisons were used for Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses to screen for DEGs related to TS biosynthesis in quinoa. Metabolomics analysis identified acetyl-CoA, 1-hydroxy-2-methyl-2-butenyl-4-diphosphate, farnesal, and (S)-2,3-epoxysqualene as the key differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs). Transcriptomics-metabolomics joint analysis showed that triterpenoid biosynthesis and terpenoid backbone biosynthesis were the enriched pathways of TS biosynthesis; farnesal were the key DAMs shared in the four comparison groups and associated with 10 key candidate DEGs related to TS biosynthesis in quinoa. These results provided important references for in-depth research on the metabolic mechanism of TS in quinoa.
藜麦(藜麦属)含有多种生理活性物质,包括维生素、多酚、黄酮类化合物、植物甾醇和皂苷。研究表明,皂苷是藜麦种子外层的保护性物质,可抵御微生物、食草动物和昆虫。由于藜麦皂苷的苷元是三萜类化合物,因此它们被称为三萜皂苷(TSs)。此外,TS的存在使藜麦具有苦味,并具有抗癌和抗炎作用。在本研究中,使用低皂苷藜麦NT376-2(N)和高皂苷藜麦B-12071(B)在开花后30天和60天(DAF)的种子来测量TS含量,并评估其转录组和代谢组谱。发现TS的含量在所有可能的比较中均存在显著差异:30 DAF时的N和B(N1__B1)、60 DAF时的N和B(N2__B2)、30 DAF时的N和60 DAF时的N(N1__N2)以及30 DAF时的B和60 DAF时的B(B1__B2)。RNA测序(RNA-seq)用于筛选差异表达基因(DEGs),并在四个比较组中揭示了14703个上调的DEGs和26267个下调的DEGs。在四个比较中发现的311个重叠DEGs用于基因本体论(GO)和京都基因与基因组百科全书(KEGG)富集分析,以筛选与藜麦中TS生物合成相关的DEGs。代谢组学分析确定乙酰辅酶A、1-羟基-2-甲基-2-丁烯基-4-二磷酸、法呢醛和(S)-2,3-环氧角鲨烯为关键差异积累代谢物(DAMs)。转录组学-代谢组学联合分析表明,三萜生物合成和萜类骨架生物合成是TS生物合成的富集途径;法呢醛是四个比较组中共享的关键DAMs,与藜麦中10个与TS生物合成相关的关键候选DEGs相关。这些结果为深入研究藜麦中TS的代谢机制提供了重要参考。