Abstract
Main conclusion
Comprehensive transcriptome analysis of different Platycodon grandiflorus tissues discovered genes related to triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis.
Abstract
Platycodon grandiflorus (Jacq.) A. DC. (P. grandiflorus), a traditional Chinese medicine, contains considerable triterpenoid saponins with broad pharmacological activities. Triterpenoid saponins are the major components of P. grandiflorus. Here, single-molecule real-time and next-generation sequencing technologies were combined to comprehensively analyse the transcriptome and identify genes involved in triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis in P. grandiflorus. We quantified four saponins in P. grandiflorus and found that their total content was highest in the roots and lowest in the stems and leaves. A total of 173,354 non-redundant transcripts were generated from the PacBio platform, and three full-length transcripts of β-amyrin synthase, the key synthase of β-amyrin, were identified. A total of 132,610 clean reads obtained from the DNBSEQ platform were utilised to explore key genes related to the triterpenoid saponin biosynthetic pathway in P. grandiflorus, and 96 differentially expressed genes were selected as candidates. The expression levels of these genes were verified by quantitative real-time PCR. Our reliable transcriptome data provide valuable information on the related biosynthesis pathway and may provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis in P. grandiflorus.
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Availability of data and materials
The sequencing datasets supporting the conclusions of this article are available in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) repository, accession number PRJNA688328 under the following link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Traces/study/?acc=PRJNA688328.
Abbreviations
- ACAT:
-
Acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase
- DEGs:
-
Differentially expressed genes
- MEP:
-
2-C-Methyl-d-erythritol 4-phosphate
- MVA:
-
Mevalonate
- OSC:
-
Oxidosqualene cyclase
- SMRT:
-
Single-molecule real-time
- TF:
-
Transcription factors
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the BGI Genomics for their assistance with the experiments.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82073957, 81773853), the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (1808085QH290), the Special Fund for Guiding Local Science and Technology Development, awarded by the Central Government of Anhui Province (YDZX20183400004233), the Key Project at the Central Government Level: The Ability Establishment of Sustainable Use for Valuable Chinese Medicine Resources (2060302), the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (2019-I2M-5-065), and the Major Scientific and Technological Projects in Anhui Province (18030801128). These funding bodies took part in the design of the study; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the manuscript; as well as in the open access payment.
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Yu, H., Liu, M., Yin, M. et al. Transcriptome analysis identifies putative genes involved in triterpenoid biosynthesis in Platycodon grandiflorus. Planta 254, 34 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-021-03677-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-021-03677-2