Integrated Metabolomics and Transcriptomics Reveal the Role of Calcium Sugar Alcohol in the Regulation of Phenolic Acid Biosynthesis in Torreya Grandis Nuts

Overview

Journal BMC Plant Biol

Publisher Biomed Central

Date 2025 Jan 23

PMID 39844048

Authors

Qiandan Xie

Zhengchu Jiang

Chenliang Yu

Qi Wang

Wensheng Dai

Jiasheng Wu

Weiwu Yu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Torreya grandis, a prominent tree species of the autochthonous subtropical region of China, possesses a drupe-like fruit containing a nut that is rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds. However, the effect of calcium (Ca) sugar alcohol (CSA), a newly developed chelated Ca-fertilizer, on the secondary metabolism of phenolics in T. grandis nuts is largely unknown, for which transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis was carried out.

Results: Transcriptome sequencing detected 47,064 transcripts, and several phenolic acid biosynthesis pathway-related genes were identified. Correlation analysis showed that the four transcription factors, TgWRKY1, TgAP2-1, TgAP2-3, and TgAP2-4, were positively associated with the accumulation of phenolic acids. Furthermore, the binding of TgAP2-1 to the TgHCT promoter was confirmed using yeast one hybrid and dual-luciferase assays. Furthermore, the expression of TgHCT in Nicotiana enhanced the total flavonoid content.

Conclusions: Our results indicated that a new regulatory module, Ca-AP2-HCT, involved in the regulation of phenolic acid biosynthesis was revealed, expanding the understanding of the role of Ca fertilizers in plant secondary metabolism.

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