Liu Junna, Li Hanxue, Wang Hongxin, Zhang Ping, Wang Qianchao, Li Li, Xie Heng, Cheng Shunhe, Qin Peng
College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, China.
Jiangsu Lixiahe District Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Yangzhou, 225007, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2025 Jul 2;25(1):813. doi: 10.1186/s12870-025-06825-y.
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) exhibits a diverse and complex response to various organisms and environmental factors. The Spodoptera exigua elicits varying levels of damage in different crops. Secondary metabolites in quinoa induce defense mechanisms against S. exigua and play a key role in influencing its feeding preferences. Although the co-evolution of quinoa and S. exigua has been explored, the understanding of the interaction between these species remains limited. We aimed to evaluate the defense mechanisms of differently colored quinoa (red, white, yellow, and black) against S. exigua using metabolomics and transcriptome analyses. Metabolomic analysis was used to identify insect-resistant metabolites in four differently colored quinoa cultivars, whereas transcriptome analysis was used to explore related pathways and gene associations.
Quinoa resistant cultivars has higher levels of protective metabolites and mechanisms. Quinoa constitutive defense refers to the significant metabolism of ferulic compounds and lignin in plants to enhance their own resistance. Meanwhile, a significant expression of anthelmintic differential metabolites, including indole 3-acetic acid, choline, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, and anthranilic acid, was observed. The structural genes regulated by kaempferol (3,5,7,4'-tetrahydroxyflavone) and kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside, along with genes downstream of quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside and MYB/MYB-related transcription factor, exhibited high expression levels in all four colors of insect-resistant quinoa. Among all quinoa cultivars, the red quinoa cultivar showed the most distinct variation in metabolite species and contents, insect-resistance was also relatively high.
These findings reveal that the types of different metabolites and MYB/MYB related transcription factors play a crucial role in influencing the expression of genes related to quinoa color and regulation, as well as in distinguishing the insect resistance of quinoa with different colors. These findings provide a basis for selecting and identifying new insect-resistant differently colored quinoa cultivars.
藜麦（Chenopodium quinoa Willd.）对各种生物和环境因素表现出多样而复杂的反应。甜菜夜蛾对不同作物造成不同程度的损害。藜麦中的次生代谢产物诱导针对甜菜夜蛾的防御机制，并在影响其取食偏好方面发挥关键作用。尽管已经探讨了藜麦和甜菜夜蛾的共同进化，但对这些物种之间相互作用的理解仍然有限。我们旨在通过代谢组学和转录组分析评估不同颜色藜麦（红色、白色、黄色和黑色）对甜菜夜蛾的防御机制。代谢组学分析用于鉴定四种不同颜色藜麦品种中的抗虫代谢产物，而转录组分析用于探索相关途径和基因关联。
藜麦抗性品种具有更高水平的保护性代谢产物和机制。藜麦组成型防御是指植物中阿魏酸化合物和木质素的显著代谢以增强自身抗性。同时，观察到驱虫差异代谢产物的显著表达，包括吲哚-3-乙酸、胆碱、阿魏酸、咖啡酸和邻氨基苯甲酸。由山奈酚（3,5,7,4'-四羟基黄酮）和山奈酚-3-O-鼠李糖苷调控的结构基因，以及槲皮素-3-O-鼠李糖苷和MYB/MYB相关转录因子下游的基因，在所有四种颜色的抗虫藜麦中均表现出高表达水平。在所有藜麦品种中，红色藜麦品种的代谢产物种类和含量变化最为明显，抗虫性也相对较高。
这些发现表明，不同代谢产物的类型以及MYB/MYB相关转录因子在影响与藜麦颜色和调控相关的基因表达以及区分不同颜色藜麦的抗虫性方面起着关键作用。这些发现为选择和鉴定新的不同颜色抗虫藜麦品种提供了依据。
