Open Access

ARTICLE

Response of the Ginseng C₂H₂-Type Zinc Finger Protein Family PgZFPs Gene to Methyl Jasmonate Regulation

Yue Jiang^1,2,#, Lingyu Liu^1,#, Kangyu Wang^1,2, Mingzhu Zhao^1,2, Ping Chen^1,2, Jun Lei^1,2, Yanfang Wang³, Meiping Zhang^1,2, Yi Wang^1,2,*, Guang Chen^1,*

1 College of Life Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China
2 Research Center for Ginseng Genetic Resources Development and Utilization, Jilin Province, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China
3 College of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China

* Corresponding Authors: Yi Wang. Email: ; Guang Chen. Email:
# These authors contributed equally to this work

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Plant Secondary Metabolism and Functional Biology)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2024, 93(11), 3055-3071. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2024.056384

Received 22 July 2024; Accepted 28 October 2024; Issue published 30 November 2024

Abstract

The main active components of ginseng are ginsenosides, which play significant roles in treating cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and providing antioxidant effects. Ginsenosides are primarily synthesized through the mevalonate pathway and the methylerythritol phosphate pathway. Many key enzyme genes involved in this biosynthetic process have been cloned and validated, yet the regulatory functions of transcription factors remain unclear. The C₂H₂-type zinc finger protein family, one of the largest families of transcription factors, is crucial in plant growth and development, response to biotic and abiotic stresses, and regulation of secondary metabolism. This study, based on the ginseng transcriptome database from Jilin, conducted a correlation analysis between the expression levels of PgZFPs genes in the Jilin ginseng C₂H₂-type zinc finger protein family and ginsenoside content, a genome-wide association study of PgZFPs, and co-expression analysis of PgZFPs with validated key enzyme genes. Ultimately, five candidate genes involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis were identified. The involvement of PgZFP27 and PgZFP-59-02 genes from the PgZFPs family in the biosynthesis of ginsenosides was validated through in vitro methyl jasmonate (MeJA) induction experiments. This result provides new genetic resources for the biosynthesis of ginsenosides.

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Keywords

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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