Abstract
Taxus chinensis is a well-known gymnosperm with great ornamental and medicinal value. Its purple red brown heartwood (HW) has many attributes such as straight texture, high density, mechanical strength, rich elasticity and corrosion resistance that is highly prized commercially. T. chinensis sapwood (SW), in comparison, lacks these important traits. At present, little is known about the differences of metabolites between the SW and HW in T. chinensis. Widely targeted metabolic profiling was performed to analyze the metabolic profiles of HW and SW in T. chinensis using Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry (LC-EI-MS). A total of 607 metabolites were detected in HW and SW. Among them, 146 metabolites were significantly higher, and 167 metabolites significantly lower, in HW as compared to SW. These differential metabolites were mainly involved in metabolic pathways and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, flavone and flavonol, phenylpropanoids and antibiotics. Moreover, 71 flavonoids and isoflavones were found to be significantly different between HW and SW. Our results show the difference of components between the HW and SW, which has potential significance to further elucidate the mechanism of HW color formation. The results will provide insight into the metabolites associated with wood color formation and useful information for understanding the metabolites associated with wood quality.
Highlights
Taxus chinensis is a well-known gymnosperm with great ornamental and medicinal value
SW and HW were collected from the branch from an approximately 30-year-old of T. chinensis (Pilger) Rehd
In order to investigate the components of HW and SW in T. chinensis, widely targeted metabolic profiling was performed to analyze the metabolic profiles of HW and SW in T. chinensis by using the Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry
Summary
Taxus chinensis is a well-known gymnosperm with great ornamental and medicinal value. With the aim to investigate the metabolites variation between the SW and HW in T. chinensis, widely targeted metabolomics approach using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was performed. Metabolites were quantitatively analyzed following collection of secondary data using the MRM model, as a result, a total of 607 metabolites were identified in HW and SW, including 52 lipids, 98 organic acids and their derivatives, 43 nucleotides and their derivatives, 132 flavonoids, 55 amino acids and their derivatives, 36 alkaloids, 93 phenylpropanoids, 12 vitamins, 17 terpenes, 21 carbohydrates and 48 others (supplementary file 1).
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