De Novo Assembly and Analysis of Polygonatum sibiricum Transcriptome and Identification of Genes Involved in Polysaccharide Biosynthesis.

Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharides (PSPs) are used to improve immunity, alleviate dryness, promote the secretion of fluids, and quench thirst. However, the PSP biosynthetic pathway is largely unknown. Understanding the genetic background will help delineate that pathway at the molecular level so that researchers can develop better conservation strategies. After comparing the PSP contents among several different P. sibiricum germplasms, we selected two groups with the largest contrasts in contents and subjected them to HiSeq2500 transcriptome sequencing to identify the candidate genes involved in PSP biosynthesis. In all, 20 kinds of enzyme-encoding genes were related to PSP biosynthesis. The polysaccharide content was positively correlated with the expression patterns of ß-fructofuranosidase (sacA), fructokinase (scrK), UDP-glucose 4-epimerase (GALE), Mannose-1-phosphate guanylyltransferase (GMPP), and UDP-glucose 6-dehydrogenase (UGDH), but negatively correlated with the expression of Hexokinase (HK). Through qRT-PCR validation and comprehensive analysis, we determined that sacA, HK, and GMPP are key genes for enzymes within the PSP metabolic pathway in P. sibiricum. Our results provide a public transcriptome dataset for this species and an outline of pathways for the production of polysaccharides in medicinal plants. They also present more information about the PSP biosynthesis pathway at the molecular level in P. sibiricum and lay the foundation for subsequent research of gene functions.

Separation and purification of α-glucosidase inhibitors from Polygonatum odoratum by stepwise high-speed counter-current chromatography combined with Sephadex LH-20 chromatography target-guided by ultrafiltration-HPLC screening.

Although Polygonatum odoratum has been widely used as medicinal plant and food supplement for treating diabetes, little is known regarding its bioactive components. In this study, ultrafiltration-HPLC based ligand screening was developed to screen α-glucosidase inhibitors from P. odoratum for the first time. Then bioactive components were target-guided separated by combining stepwise high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) using petroleum ether-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (1:4:0.8:4.2, v/v/v/v), (1:4:1.8:3.2, v/v/v/v) and (1:4:2.3:2.7, v/v/v/v) as solvent systems with Sephadex LH-20 chromatography eluted by MeCN-MeOH (1:1, v/v). Five phenethyl cinnamides, N-cis-feruloyloctopamine (1); N-trans-p-coumaroyloctopamine (2), N-trans-feruloyloctopamine (3), N-trans-p-coumaroyltyramine (4) and N-trans-feruloyltyramine (5), and four homoisoflavanones, (3R)-5,7-dihydroxyl-3-(2',4'-dihydroxylbenzyl)-chroman-4-one (6), (3R)-5,7-dihydroxyl-6-methyl-3-(4'-hydroxylbenzyl)-chroman-4-one (7), (3R)-5,7-dihydroxyl-6-methyl-8-methoxyl-3-(4'-hydroxylbenzyl)-chroman-4-one (8); and (3R)-5,7-dihydroxyl-6,8-dimethyl-3-(4'-hydroxylbenzyl)-chroman-4-one) (9), with purity over 98.5% were purified, and their structures were identified by UV, MS, and (1)H NMR. Notably, compounds 2 and 4 were first reported in genus Polygonatum, while compound 1 was first obtained from family Liliaceae. In addition, α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of compounds 1-9 were evaluated, and compounds 2 and 4 exhibited stronger α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 2.3 and 2.7µM. The results suggested the potential medicinal use of P. odoratum, and the technology could be widely applied for rapid screening and preparative separation of a group of bioactive compounds from complex matrix.