Integrated metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses revealed the distribution of saponins i

Integrated metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses revealed the distribution of saponins in

Panax notoginseng

Guangfei Wei;Linlin Dong;Juan Yang;Lianjuan Zhang;Jiang Xu;Feng Yang;Ruiyang Cheng;Ran Xu;Shilin Chen

【期刊名称】《药学学报（英文版）》 【年(卷),期】2018(008)003

【摘要】Panax notoginseng is famous for its important therapeutic effects. Saponins are bioactive compounds found in different parts and developmental stages of P. notoginseng plants. Thus, it is urgently to study saponins distribution in different parts and growth ages of P. notoginseng plants. In this study, potential biomarkers were found, and their chemical characteristic differences were revealed through metabolomic analysis. High-performance liquid chromatography data indicated the higher content of saponins (i. e., Rgl, Re, Rd, and Rbl) in the underground parts than that in the aerial parts. 20(S)-Protopanaxadiol saponins were mainly distributed in the aerial parts. Additionally, the total saponin content in the 3-year-old P. notoginseng plant (188. 0 mg/g) was 1. 4-fold higher than that in 2-year-old plant (130. 5 mg/g). The transcriptomic analysis indicated the tissue-specific transcription expression of genes, namely, PnFPS, PnSS, PnSEl, PnSE2, and PnDS, which encoded critical synthases in saponin biosyntheses.