Expression Analysis of Phenylpropanoid Pathway Genes and Phenylpropanoid Accumulation in Different Organs of Chelidonium majus L.

Abstract

Objective This study set out to examine the phenylpropanoid pathway gene expression and phenolic compound accumulation in different organs of Chelidonium majus (C. majus). Methods Total RNA was extracted and expression of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis genes was assessed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in different organs of C. majus. In addition, the phenylpropanoid compounds were analyzed from different organs of C. majus by using high-performance liquid chromatography. Results The results demonstrate the variance in the expression levels of phenylpropanoid pathway genes in the flowers, leaves, stems, and roots of C. majus. CmPAL and CmC4H were expressed at their greatest levels in the stem, while CmCHS and CmCHI were strongly expressed in the leaf, and CmF3H, CmFLS, Cm4CL, and CmDFR were more abundant in the flower. The total phenolic contents in the different organs also varied significantly. The highest value was recorded in the flowers (2152.89  ±  78.71 μg/g dry wt.), which was 54.26 times higher than the lowest values obtained from roots (39.68  ±  0.05 μg/g dry wt.). Except for roots, rutin showed the highest level in all other organs. According to a heat map, the majority of the phenolic compounds were highest in the flower. By using variable importance in projection analysis, the most significant metabolite was found to be chlorogenic acid, which had a positive association with all phenolic chemicals, but it showed a negative correlation with trans-cinnamic acid. Except for trans-cinnamic acid, all other phenolic compounds likewise showed positive correlation with other phenolic compounds. Conclusions This work offers pertinent data on the expression analysis of genes involved in the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway and the presence of phenolic compounds in C. majus. These findings will be helpful for the researcher to understand the relationship between the expression level of phenylpropanoid pathway genes and phenylpropanoid compound accumulation in C. majus.