Yu Kaidi, Yang Yuying, Duan Yuqing, You Jinwen, Guo Jie
Key Laboratory of Biology and Cultivation of Herb Medicine, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Hubei Academy of Agricultral Science, Enshi, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2025 Jul 2;25(1):842. doi: 10.1186/s12870-025-06866-3.
Root rot disease poses a devastating threat to Coptis chinensis Franch, a medicinal plant prized for its bioactive alkaloids. To dissect its defense mechanisms, we conducted integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses on resistant (R), early-stage infected (S-ES), and late-stage infected (S-LS) plants Our findings reveal a disease severity-dependent escalation in flavonoid metabolism. Key metabolites, such as kaempferol and quercetin derivatives, were significantly increased compared to R, paralleled by progressive upregulation of biosynthetic genes (PAL, CHS, CHI, FLS). Strikingly, salicylic acid (SA)-associated metabolites and pathway genes (NPR1, NPR3/NPR4) showed no differential expression across groups, contrasting with typical SA-mediated defenses in other species. This study uncovers flavonoid biosynthesis as the primary defense strategy in C. chinensis during root rot progression, while SA signaling may not be the main defense mechanism. These results provide actionable targets for enhancing disease resistance in medicinal plants through metabolic engineering.
根腐病对黄连（Coptis chinensis Franch）构成了毁灭性威胁，黄连是一种因其生物活性生物碱而备受珍视的药用植物。为了解析其防御机制，我们对抗性（R）、早期感染（S-ES）和晚期感染（S-LS）的植株进行了转录组和代谢组的综合分析。我们的研究结果表明，类黄酮代谢呈现出与疾病严重程度相关的增强。与抗性植株相比，关键代谢产物如山奈酚和槲皮素衍生物显著增加，同时生物合成基因（PAL、CHS、CHI、FLS）也逐渐上调。令人惊讶的是，水杨酸（SA）相关的代谢产物和途径基因（NPR1、NPR3/NPR4）在各组之间没有差异表达，这与其他物种中典型的SA介导的防御形成对比。本研究揭示了在根腐病发展过程中，类黄酮生物合成是黄连的主要防御策略，而SA信号传导可能不是主要的防御机制。这些结果为通过代谢工程提高药用植物抗病性提供了可操作的靶点。
