Yao Ting, Wang Ya, Zhang Na, Wang Beichao, Gan Zhuoting
Office of Scientific Research, Huangshan University, Huangshan, Anhui, China.
College of Life and Environment Sciences, Huangshan University, Huangshan, Anhui, China.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 30;20(1):e0317368. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0317368. eCollection 2025.
The quality of Chinese medicinal materials is closely related to the types and contents of their secondary metabolites, while ecological adaptability influences the production of secondary metabolites. Therefore, identifying the relationship between ecological adaptability and secondary metabolites is important for enhancing the quality of Chinese medicinal materials. In this study, we collected 10-year-old Cortex Eucommiae (Eucommia ulmoides, EU) samples from 21 plots in eight provinces which are the primary production areas of EU in central China. We used the MaxEnt model to determine the ecological suitability zones for EU at the 21 sampling sites and classified them accordingly. The contents of six pharmacologically active secondary metabolites, including chlorogenic acid, aucubin, geniposidic acid, geniposide, pinoresinol monoglucoside, and pinoresinol diglucoside were measured in the EU bark. The results demonstrated significant variations in the content of the six secondary metabolites in EU bark among different sampling sites. Correlation analysis indicated a close relationship between the content of chlorogenic acid and aucubin in EU bark and the ecological suitability of their respective production areas. The total content of the six secondary metabolites also showed good consistency with the ecological suitability of the production areas. Exploratory factor analysis further revealed a strong consistency between the factor analysis comprehensive scores based on the content of major secondary metabolites and the types of suitability zones at the sample locations. The cluster analysis results demonstrated good consistency between clustering groups and ecological suitability zone groups, with higher consistency as the suitability level of the ecological zone increased. This indicated a significant impact of suitable ecological environments on the content of EU secondary metabolites.
中药材的质量与其次生代谢产物的种类和含量密切相关，而生态适应性会影响次生代谢产物的产生。因此，明确生态适应性与次生代谢产物之间的关系对于提高中药材质量具有重要意义。在本研究中，我们从中国中部杜仲（Eucommia ulmoides，EU）主要产区的八个省份的21个样地采集了10年生杜仲皮样本。我们使用MaxEnt模型确定了21个采样点杜仲的生态适宜区并进行了相应分类。测定了杜仲皮中六种具有药理活性的次生代谢产物的含量，包括绿原酸、桃叶珊瑚苷、京尼平苷酸、京尼平苷、松脂醇单葡萄糖苷和松脂醇二葡萄糖苷。结果表明，不同采样点杜仲皮中六种次生代谢产物的含量存在显著差异。相关性分析表明，杜仲皮中绿原酸和桃叶珊瑚苷的含量与其各自产地的生态适宜性密切相关。六种次生代谢产物的总含量也与产地的生态适宜性表现出良好的一致性。探索性因子分析进一步揭示，基于主要次生代谢产物含量的因子分析综合得分与样本地点的适宜区类型之间具有很强的一致性。聚类分析结果表明，聚类组与生态适宜区组之间具有良好的一致性，且随着生态区适宜水平的提高一致性更高。这表明适宜的生态环境对杜仲次生代谢产物的含量有显著影响。
