Analysis of sinomenine synthesis pathway based on transcriptome sequencing in Sinomenii Caulis / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: In order to explore the expression of sinomenine content control genes, synthetic control sites and expression pathway. Methods: In this study, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the content of sinomenine in the roots and stems of 49 Sinomenii Caulis in six populations. Two populations with large multiple differences in sinomenine content were selected, namely Shanxi Baoji and Guizhou Zunyi. The most representative of them were selected, and their roots and stems were taken for transcriptome sequencing and named as HR/LR and HS/LS. Results: Sequencing results showed that 355 201 transcripts were obtained by splicing clean reads, including 275 491 Unigene transcripts. There were 23 562 and 37 143 differentially expressed genes in HR/LR and HS/LS, respectively. GO database analysis showed that the functions of these differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched in aspartic-type endopeptidase activity and aspartic-type peptidase activity, it is speculated that these two enzymes might be encoded. The results of KEGG enrichment explained that the differentially expressed genes were involved in carbohydrate metabolism, protein binding to cell membrane and vitamin C synthesis. The results of qRT-PCR verified the expression of upstream key genes of the isoquinoline alkaloid synthesis pathway and found that it was positively correlated with the accumulation of sinomenine. Conclusion: This study provided a preliminary understanding of the molecular mechanism that caused the difference in sinomenine content, and provided a reference for further understanding of the accumulation rules and synthesis pathways of sinomenine.