Metabolomics analysis and biosynthesis of rosmarinic acid in Agastache rugosa Kuntze treated with methyl jasmonate

PLoS One. 2013 May 28;8(5):e64199. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064199. Print 2013.

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) on metabolic profiles and rosmarinic acid (RA) biosynthesis in cell cultures of Agastache rugosa Kuntze. Transcript levels of phenylpropanoid biosynthetic genes, i.e., ArPAL, Ar4CL, and ArC4H, maximally increased 4.5-fold, 3.4-fold, and 3.5-fold, respectively, compared with the untreated controls, and the culture contained relatively high amounts of RA after exposure of cells to 50 µM MeJA. RA levels were 2.1-, 4.7-, and 3.9-fold higher after exposure to 10, 50, and 100 µM MeJA, respectively, than those in untreated controls. In addition, the transcript levels of genes attained maximum levels at different time points after the initial exposure. The transcript levels of ArC4H and Ar4CL were transiently induced by MeJA, and reached a maximum of up to 8-fold at 3 hr and 6 hr, respectively. The relationships between primary metabolites and phenolic acids in cell cultures of A. rugosa treated with MeJA were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. In total, 45 metabolites, including 41 primary metabolites and 4 phenolic acids, were identified from A. rugosa. Metabolite profiles were subjected to partial least square-discriminate analysis to evaluate the effects of MeJA. The results indicate that both phenolic acids and precursors for the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway, such as aromatic amino acids and shikimate, were induced as a response to MeJA treatment. Therefore, MeJA appears to have an important impact on RA accumulation, and the increased RA accumulation in the treated cells might be due to activation of the phenylpropanoid genes ArPAL, ArC4H, and Ar4CL.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acetates / pharmacology*
  • Agastache / drug effects*
  • Agastache / genetics
  • Agastache / metabolism*
  • Biosynthetic Pathways / drug effects
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Cinnamates / chemistry
  • Cinnamates / metabolism*
  • Cyclopentanes / pharmacology*
  • Depsides / chemistry
  • Depsides / metabolism*
  • Discriminant Analysis
  • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / drug effects
  • Genes, Plant / genetics
  • Least-Squares Analysis
  • Metabolomics*
  • Oxylipins / pharmacology*
  • Phenylpropionates / metabolism
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Rosmarinic Acid
  • Shikimic Acid / metabolism
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Acetates
  • Cinnamates
  • Cyclopentanes
  • Depsides
  • Oxylipins
  • Phenylpropionates
  • RNA, Messenger
  • Shikimic Acid
  • methyl jasmonate

Grants and funding

This study was supported by a grant from Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (20110010231) and also partially from the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program (SSAC, PJ009520), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.