Metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses reveals candidate genes and pathways involved in secondary metabolism in Bergenia purpurascens.

Bergenia purpurascens is an important medicinal, edible and ornamental plant. The lack of omics information hinders the study of its metabolic pathways and related genes. In order to investigate candidate genes and pathways involved in secondary metabolism in B. purpurascens, roots, stems and leaves of B. purpurascens were subjected to metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses in this study. A total of 351 differentially accumulated secondary metabolites were identified. We identified 120 candidate genes involved in phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis pathway, from which 29 key candidate genes were obtained by WGCNA. Five UDP-Glycosyltransferases and four O-methyltransferases were suggested to be the candidate enzymes involved in synthetic pathway from gallic acid to bergenin by correlation analysis between transcriptional and metabolic levels and phylogenetic analysis. This study provides data resources and new insights for further studies on the biosynthesis of major active components in B. purpurascens.