Lonicera japonica is used in Chinese herbal medicines with a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties associated with chlorogenic acid, flavonoid and iridoid. The biosynthesis of these compounds could be affected by genetic inheritance and epigenetic modification. However, the mechanisms that regulate the expression of genes involved in the biosynthesis of these compounds are rarely known. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the biosynthesis gene expression of these compounds was related to histone H3K4 and H3K9 methylation levels. These active compounds content of L. japonica were measured by UPLC-MS/MS. H3K4me3 showed a positive correlation with chlorogenic acid and loganic acid content, and H3K9me positively correlated with luteolin content. The correlation between histone methylation levels and the levels of luteolin and loganic acid in L. japonica from different producing areas validate the regulatory role of histone methylation in biosynthesis of bioactive compounds. Our study demonstrated a potential regulatory network of H3K9/H3K4 methylation to gene expression and content of secondary metabolites, and provided a basis for understanding the mechanism underlying the variation of major bioactive compounds in L. japonica.

金银花用于中草药中，具有与绿原酸、类黄酮和环烯醚萜相关的广泛药理特性。这些化合物的生物合成可能受到遗传和表观遗传修饰的影响。然而，调节参与这些化合物生物合成的基因表达的机制却鲜为人知。 qRT-PCR结果表明这些化合物的生物合成基因表达与组蛋白H3K4和H3K9甲基化水平相关。采用UPLC-MS/MS测定了百合中这些活性成分的含量。 H3K4me3与绿原酸、马钱酸含量呈正相关，H3K9me与木犀草素含量呈正相关。不同产地木犀草中组蛋白甲基化水平与木犀草素和马钱酸水平的相关性验证了组蛋白甲基化在生物活性化合物生物合成中的调节作用。我们的研究证明了H3K9/H3K4甲基化对基因表达和次生代谢物含量的潜在调控网络，并为理解粳稻主要生物活性化合物变化的机制提供了基础。