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（Zingiber officinale）中姜酚生物合成的见解。


生姜（ Zingiber officinale Roscoe）为多年生草本植物，是姜科植物中最具经济价值的植物之一。姜辣素是生姜精油的主要成分，赋予生姜独特的风味和药用价值。然而，姜辣素生物合成途径尚未在生姜中得到验证和描述，以帮助了解非模型物种次生代谢产物的生物合成。在这项研究中，对根茎发育的不同阶段和不同组织中姜辣素的浓度进行了定量。结果证实根茎是姜辣素的主要来源，并且根茎中姜辣素的积累从早期发育阶段开始。我们还组装了参考生姜转录组，该转录组由219,479个unigenes组成，其中包含330,568个转录本，为进一步研究提供了高质量的遗传资源。对差异表达基因 (DEG) 的分析在几个不同的比较中确定了 12,935 个 DEG。五个基因 [姜黄素合成酶( CURS )、肉桂酸 4-羟化酶( CYP73A )、对香豆酰奎宁酸/莽草酸 3'-羟化酶( CYP98A )、咖啡酰辅酶 A O-甲基转移酶( CCoAOMT ) 和羟基肉桂酰辅酶 A 莽草酸/与姜辣素生物合成相关的奎尼酸羟基肉桂酰转移酶（ HCT ）]被鉴定为在早期发育阶段的根茎中显着差异表达，并且所有五个基因均上调。 表达分析表明，这些基因的不同位点在根茎的不同组织和不同发育阶段具有功能特化（亚功能化）。在DEGs中， CCoAOMT和HCT可能作为姜辣素生物合成途径中的看门人和限速酶，从而在调节姜辣素的生物合成中发挥重要作用。