Abstract
Belamcanda chinensis (L.) DC., a perennial herb of the family Iridaceae, is rich in a variety of (iso)flavonoids with significant organ-specific distribution and has a swollen rhizome that is widely used in East Asia as a traditional medicine. In the present study, comprehensive transcriptomes of six organs (root, rhizome, aerial stem, leaf, flower, and young fruit) of B. chinensis were obtained by high-throughput RNA-sequencing and de novo assembly. A total of 423,661 unigenes (mean length = 618 bp, median length = 391 bp) were assembled and annotated in seven databases: Non-redundant protein sequences, Nucleotide sequences, Swiss-Prot, Protein family database, euKaryotic Ortholog Groups, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Gene Ontology (GO). A total of 4995 transcription factors were identified, including 408 MYB, 182 bHLH, 277 AP2/ERF, and 228 WRKY genes. A total of 129 cytochrome P450 unigenes belonging to 10 divergent clans were identified and grouped into clades in a phylogenetic tree that showed their inferred evolutionary relationship. Differentially expressed unigenes among the six organs were subjected to GO and KEGG enrichment analysis to profile the functions of each organ. Unigenes associated with (iso)flavonoid biosynthesis were then profiled by expression level analysis. Additionally, the complete coding sequences of six predicted enzymes essential to the (iso)flavonoid pathway were obtained, based on the annotated unigenes. This work reveals clear differences in expression patterns of genes among the six organs and will provide a sound platform to understand the (iso)flavonoid pathways in B. chinensis.
Highlights
Dichotomitin were the predominant isoflavonoids in B. chinensis
Among all Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs), we identified 18,552 Organ-Specific Genes (OSGs) that were expressed in one organ only and 43,166 common unigenes that were expressed in all six organs
We investigated the expression patterns of genes involved in the isoflavonoid pathway among each organ of B. chinensis using the results of gene annotation, expression quantification, and differential analysis
Summary
The rhizome of B. chinensis is rich in a variety of phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids and isoflavonoids. Isoflavones such as tectoridin, iridin, tectorigenin, irigenin and irisflorentin are demonstrated as the major bioactive constituents in the rhizome. These show good pharmacological activities as antioxidants, selective estrogen receptor modulators, and anti-proliferative agents, and have the prospect of preventing fatal diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular diseases, and ischemic stroke (Jung et al, 2003; Morrissey et al, 2004; Seidlová-Wuttke et al, 2004; Chen et al, 2011; Wu et al, 2011; Liu et al, 2012; Li et al, 2016c). The 6methoxylation and 5-hydroxylation can increase the potency of inhibition of PGE2 production, and 7-O-glycosylation decreases this inhibitory activity (Kim et al, 1999; Shin et al, 1999; Yamaki et al, 2002)
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