Progressive salinity drives flavonoid branch reprogramming in Anoectochilus roxburghii

BMC Plant Biology

卷:26

Research

Huiming Huang¹  Wenqing Bao¹  Jiangbo Lin¹  Jiamin Hong¹  Xiaowei Yu²  Yimin Dai¹ 

[1] Integrated Technique Services Center of Dongshan Customs, 10 Maluan Wan Road, 363104, Zhangzhou, Fujian, China

[2] Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 1499 Jiulong Avenue, 363005, Zhangzhou, Fujian, China

关键词: Salt stress;    Flavonoid biosynthesis;    Branch reprogramming;    Metabolomics;    Transcriptomics;    Secondary metabolism;    Anoectochilus roxburghii;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-026-09559-7

 received in 2026-05-18, accepted in 2026-07-15,  发布年份 2026

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Flavonoids play critical roles in plant adaptation to abiotic stress; however, how salt stress modulates metabolic flux distribution within flavonoid branches remains poorly understood, particularly in non-model medicinal plants. Here, we integrated targeted metabolomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics to examine flavonoid regulation in Anoectochilus roxburghii under 0, 50, 100, and 200 mmol·L− 1 NaCl. Metabolite profiling showed that salinity reshaped flavonoid composition rather than uniformly increasing flavonoid abundance. A metabolite-derived branch bias index (MI), representing the balance between reductive branch metabolites and flavonol products, increased under salt treatment, peaked at 100 mmol·L− 1 NaCl, and declined at 200 mmol·L− 1, indicating maximal branch bias under moderate stress followed by partial rebalancing under severe stress. Transcriptomic analysis showed induction of upstream phenylpropanoid and flavonoid entry genes, including PAL, 4CL, and CHS, whereas F3H was suppressed and FLS showed no induction. Furthermore, several short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase homologs (IFR-like SDR homologs) were upregulated, and the transcript-derived reductive branch index (EI) increased progressively across the salt gradient. EI was positively associated with MI, although the relationship was not strictly proportional under severe stress (200 mmol·L− 1 NaCl). Proteomic profiling further provided supportive evidence for sustained activation of upstream flavonoid biosynthesis, such as salt-induced accumulation of chalcone synthase (CHS) protein, complementing the transcriptomic and metabolomic datasets. Together, these results indicate that salt stress reorganizes flavonoid metabolism in A. roxburghii through persistent upstream activation and branch-specific regulation, favoring the reductive branch under moderate salinity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-ND   
© The Author(s) 2026

【 图 表 】

Fig. 4

Fig. 11

Video 5. Animation of a three-dimensional reconstruction of GFP-positive cells in the dorsal fin of an anesthetized fish at 17 days post-hatching mounted by caudal fin attachment.

Fig. 2