Transcriptome and metabolome analyses of lignin biosynthesis mechanism of Platycladus orientalis

Ying Li; Qikui Wu; Xiaoyan Men; Fusheng Wu; Qian Zhang; Weinan Li; Limin Sun; Shiyan Xing

doi:10.7717/peerj.14172

Transcriptome and metabolome analyses of lignin biosynthesis mechanism of Platycladus orientalis

PeerJ. 2022 Nov 2:10:e14172. doi: 10.7717/peerj.14172. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ying Li¹, Qikui Wu¹, Xiaoyan Men¹, Fusheng Wu², Qian Zhang³, Weinan Li¹, Limin Sun¹, Shiyan Xing¹

Affiliations

¹ State Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Silviculture in Downstream Areas of the Yellow River, Forestry College of Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong, China.
² Shandong Forest and Grass Germplasm Resources Center, Jinan, Shandong, China.
³ Shandong Academy of Forestry Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China.

Abstract

Background: Platycladus orientalis, as an important plant for ecological protection, is a pioneer tree species for afforestation in arid and barren mountainous areas. Lignin has the functions of water and soil conservation, strengthening plant mechanical strength and resisting adverse environmental effects and plays an important role in the ecological protection benefits of P. orientalis.

Methods: In this study, annual dynamic observations of the lignin content in roots, stems and leaves of one-year-old seedlings of a P. orientalis half-sib family were carried out, and combined transcriptome and metabolome analyses were carried out during three key stages of P. orientalis stem development.

Results: The lignin contents in roots, stems and leaves of P. orientalis showed extremely significant spatiotemporal differences. In the stems, lignin was mainly distributed in the cell walls of the pith, xylem, phloem, pericyte, and epidermis, with differences in different periods. A total of 226 metabolites were detected in the stem of P. orientalis, which were divided into seven categories, including 10 synthetic precursor compounds containing lignin. Among them, the content of coniferyl alcohol was the highest, accounting for 12.27% of the total content, and caffeyl alcohol was the lowest, accounting for 7.05% only. By annotating the KEGG functions, a large number of differentially expressed genes and differential metabolites were obtained for the comparison combinations, and seven key enzymes and 24 related genes involved in the process of lignin synthesis in P. orientalis were selected.

Conclusions: Based on the results of the metabolic mechanism of lignin in P. orientalis by biochemical, anatomical and molecular biological analyzes, the key regulatory pathways of lignin in P. orientalis were identified, which will be of great significance for regulating the lignin content of P. orientalis and improving the adaptability and resistance of this plant.

Keywords: Lignin; Metabolome; P. orientalis; Synthesis mechanism; Transcriptome.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Lignin*
Metabolome / genetics
Plant Leaves / genetics
Secondary Metabolism
Transcriptome* / genetics

Substances

Lignin

Grants and funding

The study was financially supported by “Shandong Provincial Agricultural Elite Varieties Project” (2019LZGC018); Introduction and training plan of young creative talents in universities of Shandong Province: Research group of forest tree biotechnology. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.