AUTHOR=Chacon Daisy Sotero , Santos Marlon Dias Mariano , Bonilauri Bernardo , Vilasboa Johnatan , da Costa Cibele Tesser , da Silva Ivanice Bezerra , Torres Taffarel de Melo , de Araújo Thiago Ferreira , Roque Alan de Araújo , Pilon Alan Cesar , Selegatto Denise Medeiros , Freire Rafael Teixeira , Reginaldo Fernanda Priscila Santos , Voigt Eduardo Luiz , Zuanazzi José Angelo Silveira , Scortecci Kátia Castanho , Cavalheiro Alberto José , Lopes Norberto Peporine , Ferreira Leandro De Santis , Santos Leandro Vieira dos , Fontes Wagner , Sousa Marcelo Valle de , Carvalho Paulo Costa , Fett-Neto Arthur Germano , Giordani Raquel Brandt 

TITLE=Non-target molecular network and putative genes of flavonoid biosynthesis in Erythrina velutina Willd., a Brazilian semiarid native woody plant

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.947558

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.947558

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=Erythrina velutina is widely used in traditional medicine with anti-inflammatory and central nervous system modulating activities. This species is a rich source of specialized metabolites, mostly alkaloids and flavonoids. To date, genomic information and biosynthesis and regulation of flavonoids remain unknown. As a step to address this knowledge gap, leaves and seeds of plants growing in their natural habitat had their metabolic and proteomic profiles analyzed and integrated with transcriptome data. As a result, 96 metabolites (including 43 flavonoids) were annotated. Transcripts of the flavonoid pathway totaled 27, of which EvCHI, EvCHR, EvCHS, EvCYP75A and EvCYP75B1 were identified as putative main targets for modulating the accumulation of these metabolites. The highest correspondence of mRNA vs protein was observed in the differentially expressed transcripts. In addition, 394 candidate transcripts encoding for transcription factors distributed among the bHLH, ERF, and MYB families were annotated. Expression patterns of transcripts involved in flavonoid biosynthesis and those involved in responses to biotic and abiotic stresses are discussed in detail. These findings will contribute to the establishment of a solid base for the understanding of molecular and metabolic responses in this medicinally important Brazilian semiarid species. Moreover, the identification of key regulatory targets for future studies aiming at bioactive metabolite production will be facilitated.