Liu Xuxia, Ma Haitang, Liu Xiaoling, Wang Xin, Chen Zhengjun, Yang Jie, Luo Wenrong, Li Qin, Yang Fude, Li Fang
School of Pharmacy, Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, China.
School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Phytochem Anal. 2025 Jun;36(4):1063-1078. doi: 10.1002/pca.3492. Epub 2025 Jan 2.
Dangshen (DS) has been used for hundreds of years as a traditional Chinese medicine. It has a wide range of biological activities. Flavonoids are one of the important bioactive components with strong free radical scavenging and antioxidant capacity in DS. However, the biosynthesis process of flavonoids in DS remains unclear.
The aim of this study was to understand the biosynthesis molecular mechanism of flavonoids in DS.
In this study, metabolomics research and transcriptome sequencing for DS were carried out. Transcript and metabolite profiles were generated by high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data analysis and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, respectively.
In total, 256 metabolites were identified in the root, stem, leaf, and flower of DS using untargeted metabolomics. Among them, 55 flavonoids, including pinobanksin, butein, fustin, pelargonidin, apigenin, luteolin, and eriodictyol, were closely related to flavonoid metabolism, and most of them were upregulated in different tissues of DS. Furthermore, the differentially expressed genes identified by transcriptomics were mainly enriched in the biosynthesis of flavonoid, isoflavonoid, flavone, and flavonol. A number of genes, including ANS, CCOAOMT, CHI, CHS, CYP75B1, CYP75A, CYP93B2_16, CYP98A/C3'H, DFR, F3H, FLS, and HCT, may regulate the production of flavonoids in different tissues of DS. An integrated analysis of transcriptome and metabolome revealed the flavonoid biosynthetic network in DS and elucidated the diversity of flavonoid biosynthetic pathway in roots, stems, leaves, and flowers of DS.
Our findings provide a molecular basis and new insights into flavonoid biosynthesis in DS and lay the foundation for breeding new valuable DS cultivars.
党参作为一种传统中药已使用数百年。它具有广泛的生物活性。黄酮类化合物是党参中重要的生物活性成分之一，具有较强的自由基清除能力和抗氧化能力。然而，党参中黄酮类化合物的生物合成过程仍不清楚。
本研究旨在了解党参中黄酮类化合物的生物合成分子机制。
本研究对党参进行了代谢组学研究和转录组测序。转录本和代谢物谱分别通过高通量RNA测序（RNA-seq）数据分析和液相色谱-串联质谱生成。
利用非靶向代谢组学在党参的根、茎、叶和花中总共鉴定出256种代谢物。其中，55种黄酮类化合物，包括松属素、紫铆因、黄颜木素、天竺葵素、芹菜素、木犀草素和圣草酚，与黄酮类代谢密切相关，且大多数在党参的不同组织中上调。此外，通过转录组学鉴定的差异表达基因主要富集在黄酮类、异黄酮类、黄酮和黄酮醇的生物合成中。一些基因，包括ANS、CCOAOMT、CHI、CHS、CYP75B1、CYP75A、CYP93B2_16、CYP98A/C3'H、DFR、F3H、FLS和HCT，可能调控党参不同组织中黄酮类化合物的产生。转录组和代谢组的综合分析揭示了党参中的黄酮类生物合成网络，并阐明了党参根、茎、叶和花中黄酮类生物合成途径的多样性。
我们的研究结果为党参中黄酮类化合物的生物合成提供了分子基础和新见解，并为培育新的有价值党参品种奠定了基础。
