Hameed Gul

Herba Epimedii’s leaves are highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine for their substantial concentration of flavonoids, which play a crucial role in manifesting the plant’s therapeutic properties. This study investigated the metabolomic, transcriptomic and proteomic profiles of leaves from two Herba Epimedii cultivars, Epipremnum sagittatum (J) and Epipremnum pubescens (R), at three different developmental stages. Metabolite identification and analysis revealed a total of 1,412 and 1,421 metabolites with known structures were found. Flavonoids made up of 33%, including 10 significant accumulated icariin analogues. Transcriptomic analysis unveiled totally 41,644 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) containing five encoded genes participated in icariin biosynthesis pathways. Totally, 9,745 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were found, including Cluster-47248.2.p1 (UDP-glucuronosy/UDP-glucosyltransferase), Cluster-30441.2.p1 (O-glucosyltransferase), and Cluster-28344.9.p1 (anthocyanidin 3-O-glucoside 2 “-O-glucosyltransferase-like) through proteomics analysis which are involved to icariin biosynthesis. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) assay exhibited, totally 12 proteins showing a strong relationship of false discovery rate (FDR) <0.05 with these three proteins containing 2 leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase-like protein SRF7, and 5 methyl jasmonate esterase 1. Multi-omics connection networks uncovered 237 DEGs and 72 DEPs exhibited significant associations with the 10 icariin analogues. Overall, our integrated omics approach provides comprehensive insights into the regulatory network underlying icariin synthesis in Herba Epimedii , offering valuable resources for further research and development in medicinal plant cultivation and pharmaceutical applications.

Abstract Saline conditions affect plant development and significantly reduce its yield. Maize ( Zea mays ) is the one of main cash crops in Pakistan, and unfavourable saline conditions are among the core reasons for its reduced productivity, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The identification of potential genotypes is essential for genetic modifications. By considering this situation, the current experiment was conducted to evaluate the inbred maize lines under different salinity levels. We evaluated ten maize inbred maize lines at seedling stage under three salinity levels (0 mM, 75 mM, and 125 mM NaCl). The highly significant (p ≤ 0.001) differences in inbred lines, salinity levels, and in their interaction were revealed by analysis of variance results for most of the traits. The results indicated that inbred lines D-135 and NCIL-20-4 performed better under saline conditions. Our results showed that salinity severely affects seedling growth. Accordingly, a significant decline was observed in root length, shoot length, root weight, and shoot weight, and these traits offered the maximum values for heritability and genetic advance. From the correlation and path coefficient analysis, it has been concluded that root length, shoot length, fresh root weight, and root density are the traits that can be beneficial for the identification of better germplasms under saline conditions and that are helpful for improving tolerance against saline conditions.

• Comparatively profiled the metabolomic and transcriptomic features of Perilla leaf and stem. • Flavonoid pathway related genes were identified and verified, and significantly higher expression levels of these genes were observed in Perilla leaf than stem. • The omics-based integrated results highlight the diverse potential for the utilization of different organs or tissues of Perilla in both medicinal and culinary contexts. Perilla ( Perilla frutescens L.) is a time-honored herbal plant with widespread applications in both medicine and culinary practices around the world. Profiling the essential organs and tissues with medicinal significance on a global scale offers valuable insights for enhancing the yield of desirable compounds in Perilla and other medicinal plants. In the present study, genome-wide RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) and assessing the global spectrum of metabolites were carried out in the two major organs/tissues of stem (PfST) and leaf (PfLE) in Perilla . The results showed a total of 18,490 transcripts as the DEGs (differentially expressed genes) and 144 metabolites as the DAMs (differentially accumulated metabolites) through the comparative profiling of PfST vs PfLE, and all the DEGs and DAMs exhibited tissue-specific trends. An association analysis between the transcriptomics and metabolomics revealed 14 significantly enriched pathways for both DEGs and DAMs, among which the pathways of Glycine, serine and threonine metabolism (ko00260), Glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism (ko00630), and Glucagon signaling pathway (ko04922) involved relatively more DEGs and DAMs. The results of qRT-PCR assays of 18 selected DEGs confirmed the distinct tissue-specific characteristics of all identified DEGs between PfST and PfLE. Notably, all eight genes associated with the flavonoid biosynthesis/metabolism pathways exhibited significantly elevated expression levels in PfLE compared to PfST. This observation suggests a heightened accumulation of metabolites related to flavonoids in Perilla leaves. The findings of this study offer a comprehensive overview of the organs and tissues in Perilla that have medicinal significance.