2. Academic Validation
  3. Combination of Metabolomic Analysis and Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Differential Mechanism of Phenylpropanoid Biosynthesis and Flavonoid Biosynthesis in Wild and Cultivated Forms of Angelica sinensis

Combination of Metabolomic Analysis and Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Differential Mechanism of Phenylpropanoid Biosynthesis and Flavonoid Biosynthesis in Wild and Cultivated Forms of Angelica sinensis

  • Metabolites. 2025 Sep 22;15(9):633. doi: 10.3390/metabo15090633.
Yuanyuan Wang 1,  Jialing Zhang 1,  Yiyang Chen 2,  Juanjuan Liu 3,  Ke Li 1 4,  Ling Jin 1 4 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Pharmacy, Gansu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou 730101, China.
  • 2 School of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China.
  • 3 Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
  • 4 Gansu Pharmaceutical Industry Innovation Research Institute, Lanzhou 730000, China.
  • 5 Northwest Collaborative Innovation Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine Co-Constructed by Gansu Province & MOE of PRC, Lanzhou 730000, China.
PMID: 41003016 DOI: 10.3390/metabo15090633
Abstract

Objectives: Angelica sinensis is a type of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) used primarily as a blood tonic. The chemical components that exert their efficacy are mainly bioactive metabolites, such as ferulic acid, Flavonoids, and volatile oils. The resources of wild Angelica sinensis (WA) are very scarce, and almost all the market circulation of TCM formulations relies on cultivated Angelica sinensis (CA). Some studies have shown that WA and CA differ in morphological features and chemical composition, but the reasons and mechanisms behind the differences have not been studied deeply.

Methods: Herein, metabolomics analysis (MA) and transcriptomics analysis (TA) were used to reveal the differences in bioactive metabolites and genes between WA and CA. Expression of key genes was verified by real-time reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).

Results: Results showed that 12,580 differential metabolites (DMs) and 1837 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between WA and CA. Fourteen DMs (e.g., cinnamic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, p-coumaroylquinic acid, and phlorizin) and 27 DEGs (e.g., cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase (C4H), 4-coumarate-CoA Ligase (4CL), shikimate O-hydroxycinnamoyltransferase (HCT), caffeic acid-O-methyltransferase (COMT), cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), flavonol synthase (FLS)) were screened in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and flavonoid biosynthesis. A combined analysis of MA and TA was performed, and a network map of DMs regulated by DEGs was plotted. The results of real-time RT-qPCR showed that the transcriptome data were reliable.

Conclusions: These findings provide a reference for further optimization of the development of WA cultivation and breeding of CA varieties.

Keywords

Angelica sinensis; cultivated; flavonoid biosynthesis; phenylpropanoid biosynthesis; wild.

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