School of Pharmacy, Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dalian, 116600, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.
Planta. 2024 May 25;260(1):9. doi: 10.1007/s00425-024-04445-8.
The secondary metabolic conversion of monolignans to sesquilignans/dilignans was closely related to seed germination and seedling establishment in Arctium lappa. Arctium lappa plants are used as a kind of traditional Chinese medicines for nearly 1500 years, and so far, only a few studies have put focus on the key secondary metabolic changes during seed germination and seedling establishment. In the current study, a combined approach was used to investigate the correlation among secondary metabolites, plant hormone signaling, and transcriptional profiles at the early critical stages of A. lappa seed germination and seedling establishment. Of 50 metabolites in methonolic extracts of A. lappa samples, 35 metabolites were identified with LC-MS/MS and 15 metabolites were identified with GC-MS. Their qualitative properties were examined according to the predicted chemical structures. The quantitative analysis was performed for deciphering their metabolic profiles, discovering that the secondary metabolic conversion from monolignans to sesquilignans/dilignans was closely correlated to the initiation of A. lappa seed germination and seedling establishment. Furthermore, the critical transcriptional changes in primary metabolisms, translational regulation at different cellular compartments, and multiple plant hormone signaling pathways were revealed. In addition, the combined approach provides unprecedented insights into key regulatory mechanisms in both gene transcription and secondary metabolites besides many known primary metabolites during seed germination of an important traditional Chinese medicinal plant species. The results not only provide new insights to understand the regulation of key medicinal components of 'ARCTII FRUCTUS', arctiin and arctigenin at the stages of seed germination and seedling establishment, but also potentially spur the development of seed-based cultivation in A. lappa plants.
次生代谢物从木酚素向倍半木脂素/二木脂素的转化与牛蒡种子的萌发和幼苗的建立密切相关。牛蒡作为一种传统中药，已有近 1500 年的应用历史，迄今为止，只有少数研究关注种子萌发和幼苗建立过程中的关键次生代谢变化。本研究采用联合方法，研究了次生代谢物、植物激素信号和转录谱在牛蒡种子萌发和幼苗建立早期关键阶段的相关性。在牛蒡样品的甲醇提取物中，有 50 种代谢物通过 LC-MS/MS 鉴定，15 种代谢物通过 GC-MS 鉴定。根据预测的化学结构对其定性性质进行了检验。定量分析用于破译其代谢谱，发现从木酚素到倍半木脂素/二木脂素的次生代谢转化与牛蒡种子萌发和幼苗建立的开始密切相关。此外，还揭示了初级代谢物中关键的转录变化、不同细胞区室的翻译调节以及多种植物激素信号通路。此外，该联合方法为重要传统药用植物物种种子萌发过程中的基因转录和次生代谢物提供了前所未有的关键调控机制的见解，除了许多已知的初级代谢物之外，还提供了许多其他的见解。研究结果不仅为理解“牛蒡子”的关键药用成分——牛蒡苷和牛蒡子苷在种子萌发和幼苗建立阶段的调控提供了新的见解，而且可能促进牛蒡植物基于种子的栽培发展。
