Non-target metabolomics revealed the differences between Rh. tanguticum plants growing under canopy and open habitats

Abstract

Background Rheum tanguticum (Rh. tanguticum) is an important traditional Chinese medicine plant, “Dahuang”, which contains productive metabolites and occupies wide habitats on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Plants occupying wide habitats usually vary in phenotypes such as in morphology and metabolism, thereby developing into different ecotypes. Under canopy and open habitats are a pair of dissimilar habitats which possess Rh. tanguticum plants. However, few studies have focused on the effect of habitats on Rh. tanguticum growth, particularly combining morphological and metabolic changes. This study focused on Rh. tanguticum plants growing in under canopy and open habitats where morphology and metabolism changes were quantified using non-target metabolism methods. Results The obtained results indicated that the two dissimilar habitats led to Rh. tanguticum developing into two distinct ecotypes where the morphology and metabolism were simultaneously changed. Under canopy habitats bred morphologically smaller Rh. tanguticum plants which had a higher level of metabolites (22 out of 31) which included five flavonoids, four isoflavonoids, and three anthracenes. On the other hand, the open habitats produced morphologically larger Rh. tanguticum plants having a higher level of metabolites (9 out of 31) including four flavonoids. 6 of the 31 metabolites were predicted to have effect targets, include 4 represent for under canopy habitats and 2 for open habitats. Totally, 208 targets were connected, among which 42 were communal targets for both under canopy and open habitats represent compounds, and 100 and 66 were unique targets for under canopy superior compounds and open habitats superior compounds, respectively. In addition, aloe-emodin, emodin, chrysophanol, physcion, sennoside A and sennoside B were all more accumulated in under canopy habitats, and among which aloe-emodin, emodin, chrysophanol and physcion were significantly higher in under canopy habitats. Conclusions This study determined that Rh. tanguticum growing in under canopy and in open habitats developed into two distinct ecotypes with morphological and metabolic differences. Results of network pharmacology study has indicated that “Dahuang” coming from different habitats, such as under canopy and open habitats, are different in effect targets and thus may have different medicinal use. According to target metabolomics, under canopy habitats may grow better “Dahuang”.

Soluble Protein Content, Bioactive Compounds and the Antioxidant Activity in Seeds of Ten Rheum tanguticum Lines from Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

“…tanguticum) is a perennial plant belonging to the Polygonaceae family. [1] Roots with favorable pharmacodynamic effects have been used to treat constipation for thousands of years. [2] It also has hypolipidemic, antimicrobial, hepatoprotective, and anti-inflammatory effects.…”

Network pharmacology combined with molecular docking to explore the potential mechanisms for the antioxidant activity of Rheum tanguticum seeds

“…Both techniques have been successfully applied in TCM to identify compounds with potential efficacy in treating diseases [ 28 , 29 ]. Attempts toward this direction have already been reported for R. tanguticum , focusing on multiple active ingredients aimed at multiple targets [ 30 ]. However, systematically understanding how multiple therapeutic targets work together to exert antioxidant effects still needs further investigation.…”

Bacterial Inoculant and Sucrose Amendments Improve the Growth of Rheum palmatum L. by Reprograming Its Metabolite Composition and Altering Its Soil Microbial Community

“…(http://mpns.kew.org) (accessed on January 28, 2022). Rheum has been used for thousands of years in China, and is officially listed in the Pharmacopoeia of China, Japan, and Europe [34,35]. According to many studies [36][37][38], more than 100 secondary metabolites exist in Rheum spp.…”