Tissue-specific transcriptome and metabolome analyses reveal candidate genes for lignan biosynthesis in the medicinal plant Schisandra sphenanthera

Schisandra sphenanthera is an extremely important medicinal plant, and its main medicinal component is bioactive lignans. The S. sphenanthera fruit is preferred by the majority of consumers, and the root, stem, and leaf are not fully used. To better understand the lignan metabolic pathway, transcriptome and metabolome analyses were performed on the four major tissues of S. sphenanthera. A total of 167,972,229 transcripts and 91,215,760 unigenes with an average length of 752 bp were identified. Tissue-specific gene analysis revealed that the root had the highest abundance of unique unigenes (9703), and the leaves had the lowest (189). Transcription factor analysis showed that MYB-, bHLH- and ERF-transcription factors, which played important roles in the regulation of secondary metabolism, showed rich expression patterns and may be involved in the regulation of processes involved in lignan metabolism. In different tissues, lignans were preferentially enriched in fruit and roots by gene expression profiles related to lignan metabolism and relative lignan compound content. Furthermore, schisandrin B is an important compound in S. sphenanthera. According to weighted gene co-expression network analysis, PAL1, C4H-2, CAD1, CYB8, OMT27, OMT57, MYB18, bHLH3, and bHLH5 can be related to the accumulation of lignans in S. sphenanthera fruit, CCR5, SDH4, CYP8, CYP20, and ERF7 can be related to the accumulation of lignans in S. sphenanthera roots. In this study, transcriptome sequencing and targeted metabolic analysis of lignans will lay a foundation for the further study of their biosynthetic genes.

Automated summary

This study investigated the gene expression and metabolite content in different tissues of Schisandra sphenanthera through transcriptome and metabolome analyses. It was found that the root and fruit had high levels of lignan accumulation, while the leaves had lower levels. Transcription factor analysis revealed the importance of MYB, bHLH, and ERF transcription factors in secondary metabolism regulation. Additionally, a weighted gene co-expression network analysis identified genes related to lignan accumulation.