School of Life Science, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, 273165, China.
Key Laboratory for Research and Utilization of Characteristic Biological Resources in Southern Yunnan, College of Biological and Agricultural Sciences, Honghe University, Mengzi, 661199, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2024 Jul 6;24(1):639. doi: 10.1186/s12870-024-05363-3.
Alkaloids, important secondary metabolites produced by plants, play a crucial role in responding to environmental stress. Heuchera micrantha, a well-known plant used in landscaping, has the ability to purify air, and absorb toxic and radioactive substances, showing strong environmental adaptability. However, there is still limited understanding of the accumulation characteristics and metabolic mechanism of alkaloids in H. micrantha.
In this study, four distinct varieties of H. micrantha were used to investigate the accumulation and metabolic traits of alkaloids in its leaves. We conducted a combined analysis of the plant's metabolome and transcriptome. Our analysis identified 44 alkaloids metabolites in the leaves of the four H. micrantha varieties, with 26 showing different levels of accumulation among the groups. The HT and JQ varieties exhibited higher accumulation of differential alkaloid metabolites compared to YH and HY. We annotated the differential alkaloid metabolites to 22 metabolic pathways, including several alkaloid metabolism. Transcriptome data revealed 5064 differentially expressed genes involved in these metabolic pathways. Multivariate analysis showed that four key metabolites (N-hydroxytryptamine, L-tyramine, tryptamine, and 2-phenylethylamine) and three candidate genes (Cluster-15488.116815, Cluster-15488.146268, and Cluster-15488.173297) that merit further investigation.
This study provided preliminarily insight into the molecular mechanism of the biosynthesis of alkaloids in H. micrantha. However, further analysis is required to elucidate the specific regulatory mechanisms of the candidate gene involved in the synthesis of key alkaloid metabolites. In summary, our findings provide important information about how alkaloid metabolites build up and the metabolic pathways involved in H. micrantha varieties. This gives us a good starting point for future research on the regulation mechanism, and development, and utilization of alkaloids in H. micrantha.
生物碱是植物产生的重要次生代谢物，在应对环境胁迫方面起着至关重要的作用。玉簪属植物作为一种著名的园林植物，具有净化空气、吸收有毒和放射性物质的能力，表现出很强的环境适应性。然而，人们对玉簪属植物中生物碱的积累特征和代谢机制仍知之甚少。
本研究采用四个不同品种的玉簪属植物，研究其叶片中生物碱的积累和代谢特征。我们对植物的代谢组和转录组进行了综合分析。共鉴定出 44 种生物碱代谢物，4 个玉簪属品种叶片中 26 种生物碱代谢物存在组间差异积累。HT 和 JQ 品种比 YH 和 HY 品种积累的差异生物碱代谢物更多。将差异生物碱代谢物注释到 22 条代谢途径中，包括几种生物碱代谢途径。转录组数据揭示了 5064 个参与这些代谢途径的差异表达基因。多变量分析显示，有 4 种关键代谢物（N-羟基色胺、L-酪氨酸、色胺和 2-苯乙胺）和 3 个候选基因（Cluster-15488.116815、Cluster-15488.146268 和 Cluster-15488.173297）值得进一步研究。
本研究初步探讨了玉簪属植物生物碱生物合成的分子机制。然而，需要进一步分析以阐明参与关键生物碱代谢物合成的候选基因的具体调控机制。总之，我们的研究结果为玉簪属植物中生物碱代谢物的积累和代谢途径提供了重要信息，为进一步研究玉簪属植物生物碱的调控机制以及开发利用提供了良好的起点。
