Abstract
Aloe vera L. is an excellent resource for medication. Selenium-enriched aloe can act as a functional food to human health. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying selenium accumulation in Aloe vera L., we characterized the metabolic and transcriptome responses of aloe leaves under different Na2SeO4 levels (0, 200, and 400 mg/L) treatments. Aloe leaves spraying with exogenous selenium fertilizer showed a significant increase in total Se content compared with those under non-treatment control, and no distinct differences were observed between 200 and 400 mg/L Se treatment. Non-targeted metabolic profiling revealed that Se treatment triggered the accumulation of antioxidants, including amino acid and derivatives, phenols, flavonoids, terpene, as well as indole derivatives. Consistent with metabolic changes following Se treatment, the transcript level of genes involved in Se assimilation and Se-response showed dramatically increase, such as those encoding sulfate transporter, antioxidants, phytohormone signaling, transcription factors, and phenols metabolites, suggesting Se assimilation generally accompanied with antioxidant and pathogen defense. This study exhibited comprehensive insights on Se response in Aloe vera L., and provided us with targeted genes for genetic engineering, thereby improving the therapeutic value of aloe.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Wuhan Metware Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Wuhan, China) for technical assistance.
Funding
This work is supported by the science and technology program research and development project of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, the Public health branch (No. JCY2017000021) and Science and Technology program of Chengdu (No. 2018YF0501197SN).s
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12374_2020_9285_MOESM1_ESM.tiff
Supplementary file1 Supplementary Figure 1. Effect of Se concentration on aloe leaf morphology. The phenotype of aloe leaves after 0 (F), 200 (A), 400 (B) mg/L of Se treatment (TIFF 3643 KB)
12374_2020_9285_MOESM2_ESM.tiff
Supplementary file2 Supplementary Figure 2. Gene ontology (GO) functional classifications of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the biological process category. (A) T1_VS_CK. (B) T2_VS_CK (TIFF 31597 KB)
12374_2020_9285_MOESM3_ESM.tiff
Supplementary file3 Supplementary Figure 3. Gene ontology (GO) functional classifications of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the cellular component category. (A) T1_VS_CK. (B) T2_VS_CK (TIFF 124745 KB)
12374_2020_9285_MOESM4_ESM.tiff
Supplementary file4 Supplementary Figure 4. Gene ontology (GO) functional classifications of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the molecular function category. (A) T1_VS_CK. (B) T2_VS_CK (TIFF 31371 KB)
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Zou, Y., Han, C., Wang, F. et al. Integrated Metabolome and Transcriptome Analysis Reveal Complex Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Selenium Response of Aloe vera L.. J. Plant Biol. 64, 135–143 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12374-020-09285-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12374-020-09285-z