Abstract
BackgroundThe objectives of this study were to reveal the anthocyanin biosynthesis metabolic pathway in white and purple flowers of Salvia miltiorrhiza using metabolomics and transcriptomics, to identify different anthocyanin metabolites, and to analyze the differentially expressed genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis.ResultsWe analyzed the metabolomics and transcriptomics data of S. miltiorrhiza flowers. A total of 1994 differentially expressed genes and 84 flavonoid metabolites were identified between the white and purple flowers of S. miltiorrhiza. Integrated analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics showed that cyanidin 3,5-O-diglucoside, malvidin 3,5-diglucoside, and cyanidin 3-O-galactoside were mainly responsible for the purple flower color of S. miltiorrhiza. A total of 100 unigenes encoding 10 enzymes were identified as candidate genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis in S. miltiorrhiza flowers. Low expression of the ANS gene decreased the anthocyanin content but enhanced the accumulation of flavonoids in S. miltiorrhiza flowers.ConclusionsOur results provide valuable information on the anthocyanin metabolites and the candidate genes involved in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathways in S. miltiorrhiza.
Highlights
The objectives of this study were to reveal the anthocyanin biosynthesis metabolic pathway in white and purple flowers of Salvia miltiorrhiza using metabolomics and transcriptomics, to identify different anthocyanin metabolites, and to analyze the differentially expressed genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis
The results showed that the total flavonoid content of White-flowered S. miltiorrhiza (WFSM) was about 5.83 mg/g of fresh weight, which was higher than the 5.05 mg/g fresh weight of purpleflowered S. miltiorrhiza (PFSM)
The heatmap of metabolites was drawn by R software after unit variance scaling (UV), and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was performed on the accumulation pattern of metabolites among different samples (Fig. 2a)
Summary
The objectives of this study were to reveal the anthocyanin biosynthesis metabolic pathway in white and purple flowers of Salvia miltiorrhiza using metabolomics and transcriptomics, to identify different anthocyanin metabolites, and to analyze the differentially expressed genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Salvia miltiorrhiza Burge, known as “Danshen” in China, belongs to the Labiatae family and is a perennial herb from the Salvia genus. This plant has been widely cultivated in China for two thousand years. Anthocyanins that belong to the flavonoid family are important natural colorants widely distributed among leaves, flowers, fruits, and roots. The expression of genes coding for enzymes and transcription factors play multiple key roles in regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis [13]. High expressions of dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), anthocyanidin synthase (ANS), and anthocyanidin 3-O-glucosyltransferase (UFGT) commonly increase color accumulation in fruits [14], and the R2R3-MYB, basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH), and WD40 transcription factors can form an MBW complex to regulate the biosynthesis of anthocyanin [15,16,17]. Some distinctive transporters including GST, the ABC transporter, MATE, and SNARE play important roles in anthocyanin transport in plants [20]
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