Abiotic factors and endophytes co-regulate flavone and terpenoid glycoside metabolism in Glycyrrhiza uralensis.
Zidi Liu, Yunyang Ma, Xuelian Lv, Nannan Li, Xiaohan Li, Jianmin Xing, Chun Li, Bing Hu
Author Information
Zidi Liu: Institute of Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 102401, People's Republic of China.
Yunyang Ma: Institute of Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 102401, People's Republic of China.
Xuelian Lv: Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Yinchuan, 750002, People's Republic of China.
Nannan Li: Institute of Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 102401, People's Republic of China.
Xiaohan Li: Institute of Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 102401, People's Republic of China.
Jianmin Xing: CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering & State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China.
Chun Li: Key Lab for Industrial Biocatalysis, Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, People's Republic of China. lichun@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.
Bing Hu: Institute of Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 102401, People's Republic of China. binghu319@bit.edu.cn. ORCID
Recently, endorhizospheric microbiota is realized to be able to promote the secondary metabolism in medicinal plants, but the detailed metabolic regulation metabolisms and whether the promotion is influenced by environmental factors are unclear yet. Here, the major flavonoids and endophytic bacterial communities in various Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. roots collected from seven distinct places in northwest China, as well as the edaphic conditions, were characterized and analyzed. It was found that the soil moisture and temperature might modulate the secondary metabolism in G. uralensis roots partially through some endophytes. One rationally isolated endophyte Rhizobium rhizolycopersici GUH21 was proved to promote the accumulation of isoliquiritin and glycyrrhizic acid significantly in roots of the potted G. uralensis under the relatively high-level watering and low temperature. Furthermore, we did the comparative transcriptome analysis of G. uralensis seedling roots in different treatments to investigate the detailed mechanisms of the environment-endophyte-plant interactions and found that the low temperature went hand in hand with the high-level watering to activate the aglycone biosynthesis in G. uralensis, while GUH21 and the high-level watering cooperatively promoted the in planta glucosyl unit production. Our study is of significance for the development of methods to rationally promote the medicinal plant quality. KEY POINTS: • Soil temperature and moisture related to isoliquiritin contents in Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. • Soil temperature and moisture related to the hosts' endophytic bacterial community structures. • The causal relation among abiotic factors-endophytes-host was proved through the pot experiment.
