Abstract
Dalbergia odorifera, a critically endangered tree species, produces heartwood containing a vast variety of flavonoids. This heartwood, also known as Chinese rosewood, has high economic and medicinal value, but its formation takes several decades. In this study, we showed that discolored wood induced by pruning displays similar color, structure, and flavonoids content to those of natural heartwood, suggesting that wounding is an efficient method for inducing flavonoid production in D. odorifera. Transcriptome analysis was performed to investigate the mechanism underlying wounding-induced flavonoids production in D. odorifera heartwood. Wounding upregulated the expression of 90 unigenes, which covered 19 gene families of the phenylpropanoid and flavonoid pathways, including PAL, C4H, 4CL, CHS, CHI, 6DCS, F3’5’H, F3H, FMO, GT, PMAT, CHOMT, IFS, HI4’OMT, HID, IOMT, I2’H, IFR, and I3’H. Furthermore, 47 upregulated unigenes were mapped to the biosynthesis pathways for five signal molecules (ET, JA, ABA, ROS, and SA). Exogenous application of these signal molecules resulted in the accumulation of flavonoids in cell suspensions of D. odorifera, supporting their role in wounding-induced flavonoid production. Insights from this study will help develop new methods for rapidly inducing the formation of heartwood with enhanced medicinal value.
Highlights
The most precious rosewood is Chinese rosewood, which corresponds to the heartwood of Dalbergia odorifera T
We reported that mechanical wounding of D. odorifera induced the production of discolored wood that displays a color similar to that of heartwood [22]
Transverse sections were cut from each sample, mounted in water on a Because these features are similar to those observed in natural heartwood (Figure 1E,F), the D zone coverslip examined using light microscopy
Summary
The most precious rosewood is Chinese rosewood, which corresponds to the heartwood of Dalbergia odorifera T. This heartwood has been used for manufacturing luxury furniture, artifacts, and musical instruments due to its peculiar scent, distinctive color, and high density [1,2]. In China, the rosewood of D. odorifera, a medium-sized evergreen tree indigenous to Hainan. Wild sources of Chinese rosewood are seriously threatened, owing to the slow and infrequent formation of rosewood and overexploitation. D. odorifera was put on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of endangered species in 1998 and the Appendix II list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora in
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