Abstract
Rhodiolacrenulata (Hook.f. & Thomson) H.Ohba is an alpine medicinal plant that can survive in extreme high altitude environments. However, its changes to extreme high altitude are not yet clear. In this study, the response of Rhodiola crenulata to differences in altitude gradients was investigated through chemical, ICP-MS and metabolomic methods. A targeted study of Rhodiola crenulata growing at three vertical altitudes revealed that the contents of seven elements Ca, Sr, B, Mn, Ni, Cu, and Cd, the phenolic components, the ascorbic acid, the ascorbic acid/dehydroascorbate ratio, and the antioxidant capacity were positively correlated with altitude, while the opposite was true for total ascorbic acid content. Furthermore, 1165 metabolites were identified: flavonoids (200), gallic acids (30), phenylpropanoids (237), amino acids (100), free fatty acids and glycerides (56), nucleotides (60), as well as other metabolites (482). The differential metabolite and biomarker analyses suggested that, with an increasing altitude: (1) the shikimic acid-phenylalanine-phenylpropanoids-flavonoids pathway was enhanced, with phenylpropanoids upregulating biomarkers much more than flavonoids; phenylpropanes and phenylmethanes upregulated, and phenylethanes downregulated; the upregulation of quercetin was especially significant in flavonoids; upregulation of condensed tannins and downregulation of hydrolyzed tannins; upregulation of shikimic acids and amino acids including phenylalanine. (2) significant upregulation of free fatty acids and downregulation of glycerides; and (3) upregulation of adenosine phosphates. Our findings provide new insights on the responses of Rhodiola crenulata to extreme high altitude adversity.
Highlights
Rhodiola crenulata (Hook.f. & Thomson) H.Ohba is an alpine medicinal species of the Rhodiola L., which is widely distributed in Asia, Europe, and the Americas
Considering the previous literatures, we suggest that flavonoid glycosides represented by quercetins, and catechins represented by condensed tannins, both contribute to the altitudinal challenge of Rhodiola crenulata, conferring a strong adaptive capacity to altitudeintegrated adversities consisting of UV, low temperature, hypoxia, and oxidative stress
We suggest that Rhodiola crenulata grown at higher altitudes may have more advantages for the supplementation of flavonoids of quercetin, kaempferol, and catechins represented by condensed tannins and for improving the bioavailability of these flavonoids for human health
Summary
Rhodiola crenulata (Hook.f. & Thomson) H.Ohba is an alpine medicinal species of the Rhodiola L., which is widely distributed in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Rhodiola crenulata contains a variety of phytochemicals, including phytophenols (i.e., flavonoids + phenylpropanoids + tannins), gallic acids, amino acids, free fatty acids and glycerides, and nucleotides, and its health benefits are directly related to its phytochemicals [4,14]. It has been suggested that fatty acid content and adenosine phosphates content change in a variety of plants under salt, low temperature or drought stress [58,59,60,61,62]. This indicates that adversity stress may cause changes in energy metabolism in different aspects. This study is more systematic and comprehensive in analyzing the changes of substances, which deepens the analysis of the changes of flavonoids, phenylpropanoids and amino acids, and extends to seven new mineral elements, free fatty acids and glycerides and nucleotides related to the resistance
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