The medicinal plant Panax notoginseng is considered a promising source of secondary metabolites due to its saponins. However, there are relatively few studies on the response of saponins to nitrogen (N) availability and the mechanisms underlying the N-driven regulation of saponins. Saponins content and saponins -related genes were analyzed in roots of P. notoginseng grown under low N (LN), moderate N (MN) and high N (HN). Saponins was obviously increased in LN individuals with a reduction in β-glucosidase activity. LN facilitated root architecture and N uptake rate. Compared with the LN individuals, 2872 and 1122 genes were incorporated into as differently expressed genes (DEGs) in the MN and HN individuals. Clustering and enrichment showed that DEGs related to “carbohydrate biosynthesis”, “plant hormone signal transduction”, “terpenoid backbone biosynthesis”, “sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis” were enriched. The up-regulation of some saponins-related genes and microelement transporters was found in LN plants. Whereas the expression of IPT3, AHK4 and GS2 in LN plants fell far short of that in HN ones. Anyways, LN-induced accumulation of C-based metabolites as saponins might derive from the interaction between N and phytohormones in processing of N acquisition, and HN-induced reduction of saponins might be result from an increase in the form of β-glucosidase activity and N-dependent cytokinins (CKs) biosynthesis.

药用植物三七由于其皂苷被认为是有前途的次级代谢产物来源。但是，关于皂苷对氮（N）可用性的响应以及N驱动皂苷调节的基本机制的研究相对较少。分析三七根中皂苷的含量及与皂苷相关的基因在低氮（LN），中氮（MN）和高氮（HN）下生长。LN个体的皂苷明显增加，β-葡萄糖苷酶活性降低。LN促进了根结构和氮素吸收率。与LN个体相比，在MN和HN个体中将2872和1122个基因作为差异表达的基因（DEG）并入。聚类和富集表明，与“碳水化合物生物合成”，“植物激素信号转导”，“萜类骨干生物合成”，“倍半萜和三萜类生物合成”相关的DEG被富集。LN植物中发现一些皂苷相关基因和微量元素转运蛋白的上调。而IPT3，AHK4和GS2的表达LN工厂的数据远低于HN工厂的数据。无论如何，LN诱导的基于C的代谢产物作为皂苷的积累可能源于N在获取氮的过程中氮与植物激素之间的相互作用，而HN诱导的皂苷减少可能是由于β-葡萄糖苷酶活性和N依赖性细胞分裂素（CKs）生物合成。