Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals the genetic basis underlying the biosynthesis of polysaccharides in Hericium erinaceus

Abstract

Background Hericium erinaceus , also known as lion’s mane mushroom, is a widely distributed edible and medicinal fungus in Asian countries. H. erinaceus harbors diverse bioactive metabolites with anticancer, immunomodulating, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, antidiabetic and neuroprotective properties. Although the chemical synthesis processes of these bioactive metabolites are known, the biosynthetic processes remain unknown. Results In this study, we obtained the transcriptomes of six H. erinaceus strains using next-generation RNA sequencing and investigated the characteristics of the transcriptomes and biosynthesis of bioactive compounds, especially polysaccharides. The transcriptomes ranged in size from 46.58 to 58.14 Mb, with the number of unigenes ranging from 20,902 to 37,259 across the six H. erinaceus strains. Approximately 60% of the unigenes were successfully annotated by comparing sequences against different databases, including the nonredundant (NR), Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), clusters of orthologous groups for eukaryotic complete genomes (KOG) and Swiss-Prot databases. Most of the transcripts were putatively involved in signal transduction, carbohydrate metabolism, translation, transport and catabolism, and amino acid metabolism. Genes involved in polysaccharide biosynthesis were identified, and these genes encoded phosphoglucomutase (PGM), glucose phosphate isomerase (PGI), UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGP), glycoside hydrolase family proteins, glycosyltransferase family proteins and other proteins. Moreover, the putative pathway for the intracellular polysaccharide biosynthesis of H. erinaceus was analyzed. Additionally, the open reading frames (ORFs) and simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were predicted from the transcriptome data of the six strains. Conclusions Overall, the present study may facilitate the discovery of polysaccharide biosynthesis processes in H. erinaceus and provide useful information for exploring the secondary metabolites in other members of the Basidiomycetes genus. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40529-019-0263-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

De novo sequencing of Bletilla striata (Orchidaceae) transcriptome and identification of genes involved in polysaccharide biosynthesis

“…However, polysaccharides are one of the main components, which plays a variety of biological functions (Wang and Meng, 2015;Zhang et al, 2019b). Research has revealed that BSP not only facilitates coagulation by inducing the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), but also prevent gastric ulcers by forming a protective film that coats the stomach wall, and is a common immune modulator.…”

“…With the development and implementation of advanced DNA sequencing technologies, the biological metabolisms of active components may be discerned in medicinal plants (Fu et al, 2019;Liang et al, 2019;Niazian, 2019). There are few studies on the biosynthesis of polysaccharides (this research has focused primarily on fungal species) due to their unique structures and large molecular weights (Ribeiro et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2019b). The biosynthesis pathways of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides provide a preliminary study of the various synthesis pathways of medicinal plants (Gao et al, 2015).…”

Transcriptome analysis associated with polysaccharide synthesis and their antioxidant activity in Cyclocarya paliurus leaves of different developmental stages

“…Among them, GDP-Man and UDP-Glc are mainly derived from fructose-6-phosphate and glucose-6-phosphate, while other NDP-sugars are mainly converted from UDP-Glc under the actions of isomerase, dehydrogenase, and decarboxylase (Yin et al, 2011). Glucose-6-phosphate has two important metabolic branches, a fructose-6-P branch and a glucose-1-P branch; therefore, enzymes that catalyze these two branch reactions are most important in the biosynthesis of polysaccharides (Zhang et al, 2019). According to the results of the present study, the gene expression of these enzymes showed different changing trends.…”

Key metabolism pathways and regulatory mechanisms of high polysaccharide yielding in Hericium erinaceus

“…For instance, Tan et al confirmed that a total of 48 differential expressed genes were related to polysaccharide synthesis and carbohydrate metabolism in G. lucidum by high-throughput RNAsequencing (RNA-seq) [15]. Simultaneously, many genes of H. erinaceus involved in polysaccharide biosynthesis were identified using RNA-seq, and these transcripts encoded the key-enzymes related to polysaccharide biosynthesis, including PGM, UGP, and PGI [16]. However, few studies have reported the critical regulatory genes or key enzymes in the biosynthesis pathway of H. erinaceus polysaccharide.…”