Abstract
Mirabilis himalaica is a traditional Tibetan medicinal plant in China. However, it has become a class I endangered medicinal plant. Therefore, the utilization of M. himalaica callus to propagate germplasm resources is of great significance. Numerous active compounds have been found in M. himalaica, most of which have been isolated from phenolic acids. In this study, UV-B radiation enhanced the accumulation of phenolic acids effectively in M. himalaica callus. The multi-omics profiles were used to reveal the co-expression regulated patterns of genes related to phenolic acid synthesis in UV-B treated M. himalaica callus. In this way, 8 medicinal metabolites were identified, including rosmarinic acid, sinapic acid, coniferin, salicylic acid, tyrosol, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid B and isochlorogenic acid C. The transcriptome data were divided into 26 modules based on similar expression pattern by using the weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA). It revealed that MEturquoise module correlated with above eight target metabolites. Eventually, 11 structural genes and 31 transcription factors related to phenolic acid biosynthesis were screened. Subsequently, co-expression network was constructed between these genes, transcription factors and metabolites, among which PAL, CAD and CYP73A had strong co-expression relationship with above eight target metabolites. Transcription factors such as MYB, bHLH, bZIP, PLATZ, AP2/ERF-ERF73, WRKY33 and WRKY42 had strong co-expression relationship with eight target metabolites. Consequently, these findings indicated that UV-B treated callus is a cost-efficient alternative to wild M. himalaica, which is valuable for the use of this endangered plant.
Key message
Phenolic acid content in Mirabilis himalaica callus was increased by UV-B treatment and the biosynthesis of phenolic acid is initiated by phenylpropanoid pathway and tyrosine-derived pathway.
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Data availability
Data will be made available on reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- UV-B:
-
UltraViolet B
- WGCNA:
-
Weighted gene correlation network analysis
- DEMs:
-
Differentially expressed metabolites
- DEGs:
-
Differentially expressed genes
- NAA:
-
1-Naphthaleneacetic acid
- TDZ:
-
Thidiazuron
- DPPH:
-
2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl
- LC–MS/MS:
-
Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
- DW:
-
Dry weight
- KEGG:
-
Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes
- GS:
-
Gene significance
- MM:
-
Module membership
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Funding
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U20A20401, 31270737), Tibet Autonomous Region Major Special Science and Technology (Grant No. XZ201901-GA-04), and the grant for Beijing Forestry University Outstanding Postgraduate Mentoring Team Building (YJSY-DSTD2022005).
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GJJ, CYZ, and LCF conceived and supervised the project. GJJ, LMY, LRC, GBH, LXJ, performed the research, GJJ and LMY analyzed the data, and GJJ wrote the manuscript. GJJ, LCF, CYZ, LYJ, ZXQ writing, reviewing and editing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Communicated by Ali R. Alan.
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Guo, J., Liu, M., Li, R. et al. Molecular mechanism of phenolic acid biosynthesis in callus of a Tibetan medicinal plant (Mirabilis himalaica) under UV-B treatment. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 156, 82 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-024-02710-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-024-02710-y