Yue Yihan, Ma Shuaihui, Niu Jiayin, Ren Yan, Zhao Xiaochun, Shi Qiaofang, Yu Yihe
College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China.
Henan Provincial Engineering Research Center on Characteristic Berry Germplasm Innovation & Utilization, Luoyang, China.
Physiol Plant. 2025 Jul-Aug;177(4):e70445. doi: 10.1111/ppl.70445.
As plants with medicinal and edible properties, the response mechanism to low temperature (LT) stress of plants in the genus Physalis remains unclear. To explore the molecular mechanisms in Physalis grisea under LT, transcriptomic, metabolomic, and physiological analyses were carried out. LT induced the accumulation of malondialdehyde and proline, and enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity, as evidenced by deeper NBT and DAB staining. Differentially upregulated genes were enriched in pathways including secondary metabolism and transcription factor regulation. The black module enriched in flavonoid biosynthesis and phenylalanine metabolism was further screened out through weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). The co-expression network revealed the relationships of key structural genes related to flavonoid synthesis and transcription factors (TFs). To elucidate the association between treatment duration and flavonoid metabolism, total flavonoid content was measured and found to exhibit a significant positive correlation with treatment time. Based on the 45 differentially accumulated flavonoid metabolites (DAFMs) identified using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography, four kinds of shared DAFMs (luteolin, quercetin, apigenin, and dihydrokaempferol) exhibited continuous increases throughout the treatment period. Based on the metabolic pathway map and correlation network analysis of flavonoid structural genes and DAFMs, 12 structural genes were found to be involved in regulating the biosynthesis of these DAFMs. Reverse transcription quantitative PCR verified the expression patterns of structural genes and potential upstream TFs, which highlight the critical regulatory role of flavonoids in Physalis grisea LT adaptation. This study established a fundamental framework for understanding the mechanism of LT response and flavonoid biosynthesis in Physalis.
作为具有药用和食用特性的植物，酸浆属植物对低温胁迫的响应机制尚不清楚。为了探究灰酸浆在低温胁迫下的分子机制，进行了转录组学、代谢组学和生理学分析。低温诱导了丙二醛和脯氨酸的积累，并增强了抗氧化酶活性，NBT和DAB染色加深证明了这一点。差异上调的基因富集在包括次生代谢和转录因子调控在内的途径中。通过加权基因共表达网络分析（WGCNA）进一步筛选出富集在黄酮类生物合成和苯丙氨酸代谢中的黑色模块。共表达网络揭示了与黄酮类合成相关的关键结构基因和转录因子（TFs）之间的关系。为了阐明处理持续时间与黄酮类代谢之间的关联，测定了总黄酮含量，发现其与处理时间呈显著正相关。基于高效液相色谱法鉴定出的45种差异积累的黄酮类代谢物（DAFMs），四种共享的DAFMs（木犀草素、槲皮素、芹菜素和二氢山奈酚）在整个处理期间持续增加。基于黄酮类结构基因和DAFMs的代谢途径图和相关网络分析，发现12个结构基因参与调控这些DAFMs的生物合成。逆转录定量PCR验证了结构基因和潜在上游TFs的表达模式，突出了黄酮类在灰酸浆低温适应中的关键调控作用。本研究建立了一个理解酸浆低温响应机制和黄酮类生物合成的基本框架。
