Abstract
Acorus tatarinowii Schott is a well-known Chinese traditional herb. Lignin is the major biologically active ingredient and exerts a broad range of pharmacological effects: it is an antitumor, antioxidant and bacteriostatic agent, and protects the cardiovascular system. In the present study, the transcriptomes of the leaf and rhizome tissues of A. tatarinowii Schott were obtained using the BGISEQ-500 platform. A total of 141777 unigenes were successfully assembled, of which 76714 were annotated in public databases. Further analysis of the lignin biosynthesis pathway revealed a total of 107 unigenes encoding 8 key enzymes, which were involved in this pathway. Furthermore, the expression of the key genes involved in lignin synthesis in different tissues was identified by quantitative real-time PCR. Analysis of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) showed that most of the up-regulated unigenes were enriched in rhizome tissues. In addition, 2426 unigenes were annotated to the transcriptome factor (TF) family. Moreover, 16 TFs regulating the same key enzyme (peroxidase) were involved in the lignin synthesis pathway. The alignment of peroxidase amino acid sequences and the analysis of the structural characteristics revealed that the key peroxidase enzyme had well-conserved sequences, spatial structures, and active sites. The present study is the first to provide comprehensive genetic information on A. tatarinowii Schott at the transcriptional level, and will facilitate our understanding of the lignin biosynthesis pathway.
Highlights
Acorus tatarinowii Schott (A. tatarinowii) is a well-known traditional Chinese herb that is abundant in eastern and southern Asia
A. tatarinowii is a well-known traditional medicinal plant [21]: its sedative, digestive, analgesic, diuretic, and antifungal effects are recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia [22]
To identify the unigenes involved in the lignin biosynthesis pathway, we constructed a large number of gene sequences to help identify more key enzymes to assist research of lignin biosynthesis in A. tatarinowii
Summary
Acorus tatarinowii Schott (A. tatarinowii) is a well-known traditional Chinese herb that is abundant in eastern and southern Asia. A. tatarinowii is believed to have the potential to alleviate cognitive decline, epilepsy, and dementia [1]. The main biologically active ingredients are phenylpropanoids, lignins, sesquiterpenoids, and alkaloids [2,3]. The active ingredients of A. tatarinowii confer a broad range of pharmacological effects, including hypoglycemic, anti-Alzheimer’s disease (AD), antiepileptic, neuroprotective, and memory-enhancing activities [4,5]. Lignin is the major bioactive ingredient in A. tatarinowii. Lignin is a composite phenolic polymer, composed mainly of hydroxyphenyl (H), guaiacyl (G), and syringyl (S) units, which are formed through the oxidative polymerization of p-coumaryl, coniferyl, and sinapyl alcohols, respectively [6]. The main functions of lignin are to provide mechanical support for plants, water conductivity, and protection against plant
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