Molecular Analysis of UV-C Induced Resveratrol Accumulation in Polygonum cuspidatum Leaves

Abstract

Resveratrol is one of the most studied plant secondary metabolites owing to its numerous health benefits. It is accumulated in some plants following biotic and abiotic stress pressures, including UV-C irradiation. Polygonum cuspidatum represents the major natural source of concentrated resveratrol but the underlying mechanisms as well as the effects of UV-C irradiation on resveratrol content have not yet been documented. Herein, we found that UV-C irradiation significantly increased by 2.6-fold and 1.6-fold the resveratrol content in irradiated leaf samples followed by a dark incubation for 6 h and 12 h, respectively, compared to the untreated samples. De novo transcriptome sequencing and assembly resulted into 165,013 unigenes with 98 unigenes mapped to the resveratrol biosynthetic pathway. Differential expression analysis showed that P. cuspidatum strongly induced the genes directly involved in the resveratrol synthesis, including phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase, 4-coumarate-CoA ligase and stilbene synthase (STS) genes, while strongly decreased the chalcone synthase (CHS) genes after exposure to UV-C. Since CHS and STS share the same substrate, P. cuspidatum tends to preferentially divert the substrate to the resveratrol synthesis pathway under UV-C treatment. We identified several members of the MYB, bHLH and ERF families as potential regulators of the resveratrol biosynthesis genes.

Impact of Environmental Factors on Stilbene Biosynthesis

“…[255], and Polygonum cuspidatum Siebold and Zucc. [256] (Table 1). Recently, Vannozzi and colleagues [60] performed a genome-wide analysis of the VvSTS multigene family expression pattern on V. vinifera cv.…”

Tissue-specific transcriptome analyses reveal candidate genes for stilbene, flavonoid and anthraquinone biosynthesis in the medicinal plant Polygonum cuspidatum

“…To our knowledge, few studies have investigated the molecular biology of P. cuspidatum in the literature. These include the publication of a draft genome (2.6 Gb) with a large number of scaffolds and assembly gaps, indicating that the P. cuspidatum genome contains multiple repeat sequences and high heterozygosity [ 9 ], two RNA sequencing transcriptomes from P. cuspidatum roots [ 10 ] and UV-C-treated leaves [ 11 ], and a report of the Fagopyrum tataricum genome (489.3 Mb) at the chromosome scale for the Polygonaceae family to which P. cuspidatum belongs [ 12 ]. This general lack of molecular knowledge on P. cuspidatum severely hampers an understanding of the biosynthesis mechanism of its active compounds.…”

Resveratrol effects in bladder cancer: A mini review

“…However, the dominant natural source of RSV is Polygonum cuspidatum, which is extensively used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine (Liu et al, 2019). P. cuspidatum leaves present 1000 µg/g of RSV (Liu et al, 2019). Li X et al (2006) observed extremely high extractable amounts of RSV in berry skins [>100 µg/g of skin fresh weight (FW)] and seeds (>20 µg/g of seed FW) in two rootstock cultivars obtained from hybrids of V. monticula × V. riparia.…”

“…A widely known source of resveratrol is red wine, which contain resveratrol concentrations from 1.9-14.3 mg/L, depending on grape variety, cultivation place and preparation method ( Stephan et al ., 2017 ). However, the dominant natural source of RSV is Polygonum cuspidatum , which is extensively used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine ( Liu et al ., 2019 ). P. cuspidatum leaves present 1000 µg/g of RSV ( Liu et al ., 2019 ).…”

“…However, the dominant natural source of RSV is Polygonum cuspidatum , which is extensively used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine ( Liu et al ., 2019 ). P. cuspidatum leaves present 1000 µg/g of RSV ( Liu et al ., 2019 ). Li X et al.…”