Gao Maolun, Chen Shanshan, Kong Lingzhe, Wang Liwei, Meng Xiangxiao, Xie Ziyan, Xu Zhichao, Mi Yaolei
Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration (Northeast Forestry University), Ministry of Education, Harbin, 150040, China; College of Life Science, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China.
Key Laboratory of Beijing for Identification and Safety Evaluation of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China.
Plant Physiol Biochem. 2025 Jul;224:109942. doi: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2025.109942. Epub 2025 Apr 24.
Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) has been cultivated as a versatile industrial crop for millennia, serving for food, fiber, and medicine. Cannabinoids are characteristic medicinal active compounds in cannabis, mainly being rich in female inflorescences. CONSTANS-like (COL) transcription factors are primarily involved in the photoperiod process of flowering plants. However, knowledge about their regulatory mechanism for secondary metabolites is limited. Eleven CsCOLs were identified from the cannabis genome based on the phylogenetic relationship and conserved domains in this study. The number of CsCOLs in cannabis showed apparent contraction and their functional divergence. CsCOL1, CsCOL5, and CsCOL7 exhibited high expression in flowers and bracts and their overexpression elevated the content of CBDA and CBGA by promoting the expression of related structural genes involved in cannabinoid biosynthesis. In addition, CsCOL7 was bound to the promoters of four structural genes, including CsAAE, CsOLS, CsPT4, and CsCBDAS, to regulate their gene expression in the manner of repressing the upstream and activating the downstream genes. CsCOL1 positively regulated the expression of CsPT4 and CsCBDAS. In addition, CsCOL5 positively regulated the expression of CsOLS and CsPT4 via binding of their promoters. Here, we explored the potential transcription regulation mechanism of CsCOLs in cannabinoid biosynthesis in C. sativa for the first time, even though a more profound investigation should be conducted in cannabis plants in the future. The findings expanded the knowledge of COLs in regulating secondary metabolites and provided insights into CsCOLs in cannabinoid biosynthesis.
大麻（Cannabis sativa L.）作为一种用途广泛的经济作物已被种植了数千年，可用于食品、纤维和医药领域。大麻素是大麻中具有特色的药用活性化合物，主要富含于雌花序中。CONSTANS类（COL）转录因子主要参与开花植物的光周期过程。然而，关于它们对次生代谢产物的调控机制的了解有限。在本研究中，基于系统发育关系和保守结构域，从大麻基因组中鉴定出11个CsCOLs。大麻中CsCOLs的数量显示出明显的收缩及其功能分化。CsCOL1、CsCOL5和CsCOL7在花和苞片中有高表达，它们的过表达通过促进参与大麻素生物合成的相关结构基因的表达而提高了CBDA和CBGA的含量。此外，CsCOL7与包括CsAAE、CsOLS、CsPT4和CsCBDAS在内的四个结构基因的启动子结合，以上游抑制和下游激活的方式调控它们的基因表达。CsCOL1正向调控CsPT4和CsCBDAS的表达。此外，CsCOL5通过与它们的启动子结合正向调控CsOLS和CsPT4的表达。在此，我们首次探索了CsCOLs在大麻中对大麻素生物合成的潜在转录调控机制，尽管未来还需要在大麻植株中进行更深入的研究。这些发现扩展了COLs在调控次生代谢产物方面的知识，并为大麻素生物合成中的CsCOLs提供了见解。
