Regulation mechanisms of flavonoids biosynthesis of Hancheng Dahongpao peels (Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim) at different development stages by integrated metabolomics and transcriptomics analysis

Abstract

Background Flavonoids have strong free radical scavenging and antioxidant capacity. The high abundance of flavonoids in Chinese prickly ash peels have many benefits to human health. In this study, ‘Hancheng Dahongpao’, a main cultivar, was taken as materials to investigate the flavonoids biosynthesis mechanism of Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim at three key development stages by integration of metabolomics and transcriptomics analysis. Results A total of 19 differentially accumulated metabolites were identified, the key flavonoids compounds were kaempferol, quercetin and their glycoside derivatives, and two major anthocyanins (peonidin O-hexoside and peonidin 3-O-glucoside). 5 gene networks/modules including 15 important candidate genes were identified, which was highly correlated with flavonoids. Among these genes, ZM-163828 and ZM-184209 were strongly correlated with kaempferol and quercetin, and ZM-125833 and ZM-97481 were controlled the anthocyanins biosynthesis. Moreover, it was shown that MYB-ZM1, MYB-ZM3, MYB-ZM5, MYB-ZM6 and MYB-ZM7 coordinately controlled flavonoids accumulation through regulating the structural genes. Conclusions Generally, this study systematically revealed the flavonoids metabolic pathways and candidate genes involved in flavonoids biosynthesis and laid a foundation for the potential targets for the breeding of new valuable Chinese prickly ash cultivars.

Integrated transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis provide insight into anthocyanin biosynthesis for sepal color formation in Heptacodium miconioides

“…They suggested that the MYC2, NAC71, WRKY57, and TCP7 TFs might be participated in the regulation of anthocyanin structural genes. Similarly, Zheng et al (2022) found that the UFGT gene and two ANS genes were upregulated in the whole developmental stages of Zanthoxylum bungeanum fruit peels, which may represent key functional genes for the accumulation of peonidin 3-O-glucoside and peonidin Ohexoside. Therefore, multiomics analysis is a powerful strategy to explore the regulation of the anthocyanin network at different developmental stages in plants (Liu et al, 2017;Lin et al, 2020).…”

“…In flowering plants, the color changes that occur in floral organs are closely related to anthocyanins ( Shen et al., 2021 ). Thus far, several genes involved in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway have been identified in most plants ( Boss et al., 1996 ; Saito et al., 2013 ; Zheng et al., 2022 ). These genes mainly include dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), anthocyanidin synthase (ANS), and UDP-glucose: flavonoid 3-glucosyltransferase (UFGT) ( Schaart et al., 2013 ; Wang et al., 2019 ).…”

Light and Potassium Improve the Quality of Dendrobium officinale through Optimizing Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Alteration

“…Total RNA was isolated using the Trizol Reagent (Invitrogen Life Technologies, Shanghai, China), and 3 μg RNA was used as input material for the RNA sample preparations. The total RNA was quantified, and the quality was assessed using an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer system (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA, USA) [ 68 ]. The sequencing library was sequenced on NovaSeq 6000 platform (Illumina) by Personal Biotechnology Cp., Ltd. (Shanghai, China).…”

Evaluating the Impacts of Climate Factors and Flavonoids Content on Chinese Prickly Ash Peel Color Based on HPLC-MS and Structural Equation Model

“…Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim., known as Chinese prickly ash, is widely distributed in China and was the most important, traditional condiment and medicinal plant in China for hundreds of years and has strong ecological adaptation [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Due to the influence of other species, geographical conditions, climate factors and chemical composition, the color of Chinese prickly ash peel produced in different regions is different [ 4 ].…”