ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1589215
Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of flavonoid biosynthesis in cigar tobacco leaves under variable nitrogen regimes
Provisionally accepted
- 1College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
- 2Sanming Tobacco Company of Fujian Province, Fujian Provicial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
- 3Institute of Tobacco Sciences, Fujian Provicial Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
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Flavonoids are the most abundant secondary metabolites in plants and play an important role in plant growth and environmental adaptation as well as in human health. Tobacco serves as a vital cash crop and a key source of flavonoids. Tobacco has a great demand for nitrogen, and flavonoid synthesis is particularly sensitive to nitrogen supply. The flavonoid biosynthesis pathways in the cigar tobacco cultivar Haiyan 204 under varying nitrogen application rates were systematically investigated through integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses. This study identified a total of 694 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) and 6,114 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed significant enrichment in the flavonoid biosynthesis and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathways. Furthermore, a regulatory network of flavonoid biosynthesis in response to nitrogen in cigar tobacco was constructed. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified CHS2 as a key gene strongly associated with flavonoid biosynthesis, alongside its potential regulatory transcription factors (TF) MYB7, MYB9, bHLH14, and MYB_related1. The reliability of the transcriptome sequencing data was validated via quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). These results provide a scientific basis for elucidating the biosynthesis mechanisms of tobacco flavonoids and identifying key nitrogen-responsive genes.
Keywords: Nitrogen, Transcriptomics, Metabolomics, Flavonoids, Cigar tobacco
Received: 10 Mar 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jia, Shi, Bai, Wang, Wang, Li, Li and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chaoyuan Zheng, College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, Fujian Province, China
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