The chemical profiling of Salvia plebeia during different growth periods and the biosynthesis of its main flavonoids ingredients

Yiqun Dai; Ziyu Ye; Hui Liu; Ruirui Zhu; Lanlan Sun; Shuai Li; Guoyong Xie; Yan Zhu; Yucheng Zhao; Minjian Qin

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1228356

The chemical profiling of Salvia plebeia during different growth periods and the biosynthesis of its main flavonoids ingredients

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Aug 14:14:1228356. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1228356. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yiqun Dai^{1

2}, Ziyu Ye¹, Hui Liu³, Ruirui Zhu¹, Lanlan Sun¹, Shuai Li¹, Guoyong Xie¹, Yan Zhu¹, Yucheng Zhao¹, Minjian Qin¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Resources Science of Traditional Chinese Medicines, School of Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
² School of Pharmacy, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China.
³ Yangzhou Center for Food and Drug Control, Yangzhou, China.

Abstract

Salvia plebeia (Lamiaceae) is a valuable medicinal plant widely distributed across Asia and Oceania. However, the composition and accumulation patterns of its active ingredients in different organs during the growth and their biosynthetic mechanism remain unknown. Therefore, we conducted metabolite profiling, transcriptomic analysis, and biological functional verification to explore the distribution, accumulation, and biosynthesis mechanisms of flavonoids in S. plebeia. We identified 70 metabolites including 46 flavonoids, 16 phenolic acids, seven terpenoids, and one organic acid, of which 21 were previously unreported in S. plebeia. Combining metabolomic-transcriptomic analysis and biological functional verification, we identified the key genes involved in biosynthesis of its main active ingredients, hispidulin and homoplantaginin, including SpPAL, SpC4H, Sp4CL2, Sp4CL5, SpCHS1, SpCHI, SpFNS, SpF6H1, SpF6OMT1, SpF6OMT2, SpUGT1, SpUGT2, and SpUGT3. Using the identified genes, we reconstructed the hispidulin and homoplantaginin biosynthesis pathways in Escherichia coli, and obtained a yield of 5.33 and 3.86 mg/L for hispidulin and homoplantaginin, respectively. Our findings provide valuable insights into the changes in chemical components in different organs of S. plebeia during different growth and harvest stages and establishes a foundation for identifying and synthesizing its active components.

Keywords: LC-MS/MS; Salvia plebeia; dynamic distribution; flavonoid biosynthesis; harvest time; transcriptome.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81872958) and the open foundation of Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine state key laboratory of R&D of Characteristic Qin Medicine Resources (SUCM-QM202202). It was also supported by “Double First-Class” University Project (CPU2022QZ27) and the key project at central government level: the ability establishment of sustainable use for valuable Chinese medicine resources (2060302) and the Fund of Traditional Chinese Medicine Institute of Anhui Dabie Mountain (TCMADM-2023-18).