Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), a perennial herb, is one of the most economically valuable plants in the Zingiberaceae family. Gingerol, as the major constituents of ginger essential oil, contributes to the unique flavor and pharmaceutical value of ginger. However, the pathway of gingerol biosynthesis has not been verified and described in ginger to help understand the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in nonmodel species. In this study, the concentrations of gingerols were quantified at different stages of rhizome development and in different tissues. The results confirmed that rhizomes are the major source of gingerols and that accumulation of gingerols in the rhizome starts at an early developmental stage. We also assembled a reference ginger transcriptome, which is composed of 219,479 unigenes consisting of 330,568 transcripts and provides a high‐quality genetic resource for further research. An analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified 12,935 DEGs among several different comparisons. Five genes [curcumin synthase (CURS), cinnamate 4‐hydroxylase (CYP73A), p‐coumaroyl quinate/shikimate 3’‐hydroxylase (CYP98A), caffeoyl‐coenzyme A O‐methyl transferase (CCoAOMT), and hydroxycinnamoyl‐coenzyme A shikimate/quinate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT)] associated with gingerol biosynthesis were identified as being significantly differentially expressed in the rhizome at an early developmental stage and all five genes were upregulated. Expression analysis revealed that different loci of these genes have become functionally specialized in different tissues and different developmental stages of the rhizome (subfunctionalization). Among the DEGs, CCoAOMT and HCT may act as gatekeepers and rate‐limiting enzymes in the gingerol biosynthesis pathway and thus play an important role in regulating the biosynthesis of gingerol.

中文翻译：

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转录组分析提供了对生姜中姜油生物合成的见解。

生姜（姜）罗斯科（Roscoe），一种多年生草本植物，是姜科植物中最具经济价值的植物之一。生姜作为生姜精油的主要成分，有助于生姜的独特风味和药用价值。但是，生姜中生姜醇的合成途径尚未得到验证和描述，以帮助理解非模型物种中次生代谢产物的生物合成。在这项研究中，姜黄素的浓度在根茎发育的不同阶段和不同组织中进行了定量。结果证实根茎是生姜醇的主要来源，生姜中姜醇的积累始于早期发育阶段。我们还组装了一个参考姜转录组，它由219,479个单基因组成，其中包括330个，568个笔录，为进一步研究提供了高质量的遗传资源。差异表达基因（DEG）的分析在几个不同的比较中鉴定出12,935个DEG。五个基因[姜黄素合酶（CURS），肉桂酸4-羟化酶（CYP73A），对-香豆酰奎宁/ quin草酸酯3'-羟化酶（CYP98A），咖啡酰-辅酶A O-甲基转移酶（CCoAOMT）和羟肉桂酸/乙酰基/甲酰基-辅酶（HCT）]与生姜酚的生物合成有关，在发育的早期阶段，它在根茎中有明显的差异表达，并且所有5个基因均被上调。表达分析表明，这些基因的不同基因座已在功能上专门化于根茎的不同组织和不同发育阶段（亚功能化）。在DEG中，CCoAOMT和HCT可能是姜醇生物合成途径中的守门员和限速酶，因此在调节姜醇的生物合成中起着重要作用。