Variations of metabolites and proteome in Lonicera japonica Thunb. buds and flowers under UV radiation

Abstract

Lonicera japonica Thunb., also known as Jin Yin Hua and Japanese honeysuckle, is used as a herbal medicine in Asian countries. Its flowers have been used in folk medicine in the clinic and in making food or healthy beverages for over 1500years in China. To investigate the molecular processes involved in L. japonica development from buds to flowers exposed to UV radiation, a comparative proteomics analysis was performed. Fifty-four proteins were identified as differentially expressed, including 42 that had increased expression and 12 that had decreased expression. The levels of the proteins related to glycolysis, TCA/organic acid transformation, major carbohydrate metabolism, oxidative pentose phosphate, stress, secondary metabolism, hormone, and mitochondrial electron transport were increased during flower opening process after exposure to UV radiation. Six metabolites in L. japonica buds and flowers were identified and relatively quantified using LC-MS/MS. The antioxidant activity was performed using a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assay, which revealed that L. japonica buds had more activity than the UV irradiated flowers. This suggests that UV-B radiation induces production of endogenous ethylene in L. japonica buds, thus facilitating blossoming of the buds and activating the antioxidant system. Additionally, the higher metabolite contents and antioxidant properties of L. japonica buds indicate that the L. japonica bud stage may be a more optimal time to harvest than the flower stage when using for medicinal properties.

Integrative omics of Lonicera japonica Thunb. Flower development unravels molecular changes regulating secondary metabolites

“…5). It has been demonstrated that the content of secologanic acid was increased during flower opening in L. japonica [7]. These results indicate that TK-contained regulatory circuit might be activated to contribute to the biosynthesis of terpenoid backbone in the late floral stages of L. japonica.…”

“…As it was proved that the activated glycolysis contributed to the accumulation of phenylpropanoids through the shikimic acid pathway [49][50]. Previous study demonstrated that the content of chlorogenic acid was higher in bud stage than that in flower stage [7]. As the active compounds of L. japonica, chlorogenic acid, luteolin, and their precursors (phenylalanine and 4-coumarate) were observed to reduce in late stage ( Figs.…”

“…The quality of L. japonica mainly depends on the developmental period of the flower. The content of chlorogenic acid which is an important active ingredient [6] is high during early stages while it decreased during late stages of flower development [7]. The flowering period, from May to September, can be divided into five stages according to previous publication [8]: the juvenile bud stage (JBS), the third green stage (TGS), the complete white stage (CWS), the silver flowering stage (SFS), and the gold flowering stage (GFS).…”

Spectrum–effect relationship study between HPLC fingerprints and antioxidant of honeysuckle extract

“…However, the compounds responsible for the antioxidative activity are still unknown. Organic acids and flavones are the two main chemical compositions of honeysuckle, represented by neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, rutin, cynaroside, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid B and isochlorogenic acid C. These chemicals can be used as the indicative active ingredients to evaluate the quality of honeysuckle (Zhu et al, ; Lin et al, ).…”

Ca2+ imaging and gene expression profiling of Lonicera Confusa in response to calcium-rich environment

“…L. confusa belongs to the family Caprifoliaceae. As one medicinal plant with ecological value 25 – 33 , L. confusa could adapted to karst calcium-rich area of southwest China 34 , 35 . Our previous results showed that L. confusa could excrete excess Ca salts via stomata and store the excess Ca 2+ in glands and trichomes 34 .…”