Open Access

ARTICLE

EuSHT Acts as a Hub Gene Involved in the Biosynthesis of 6-Hydroxyluteolin and Quercetin Induced by Salt Stress in Eucommia ulmoides

by Fuxin Li¹, Enyan Chen¹, Xinxin Chen¹, Jingyu Jia¹, Hemin Wang¹, Jie Zhang¹, Jianrui Sun¹, Xin Li^1,2,3,*

1 College of Food and Bioengineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, China
2 Henan Engineering Research Center of Food Microbiology, Luoyang, 471023, China
3 National Demonstration Center for Experimental Food Processing and Safety Education, Luoyang, 471000, China

* Corresponding Author: Xin Li. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Abiotic Stress Impacts on Plant Physiology and Their Alleviation)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2024, 93(8), 2095-2113. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2024.054231

Received 22 May 2024; Accepted 30 July 2024; Issue published 30 August 2024

Abstract

Salt stress inhibits plant growth and affects the biosynthesis of its secondary metabolites. Flavonoids are natural compounds that possess many important biological activities, playing a significant role in the medicinal activity of Eucommia ulmoides (E. ulmoides). To investigate the mechanism by which salt stress affects the biosynthesis of flavonoids in E. ulmoides, a comprehensive analysis of metabolomics and transcriptomics was conducted. The results indicated that salt stress led to the wilting and darkening of E. ulmoides leaves, accompanied by a decrease in chlorophyll levels, and significantly induced malondialdehyde (MDA) and relative electrical conductivity. During salt stress, most metabolites in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway of E. ulmoides were upregulated, indicating that flavonoid biosynthesis is likely the main induced pathway under salt stress. Among them, secondary metabolites such as 6-Hydroxyluteolin and Quercetin are likely key metabolites induced by salt stress. The correlation analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics revealed that EuSHT is a hub gene induced by salt stress, promoting the production of flavonoids such as 6-Hydroxyluteolin. The co-expression network showed a strong positive correlation between EuSHT and the biosynthesis of 6-Hydroxyluteolin and Quercetin, while it exhibited a negative correlation with Catechin biosynthesis. The branches leading to Luteolin and Dihydroquercetin are likely the main pathways for flavonoid compound biosynthesis in the plant stress response during salt stress. The results of this study provided a preliminary mechanism of secondary metabolites such as flavonoids in the medicinal plant E. ulmoides induced by salt stress and provided new theoretical support for discussing the mechanism of plant stress response. It also provided useful information for subsequent exploration of resistance genes in E. ulmoides.

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