ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1617856
This article is part of the Research TopicEvolution, Accumulation and Metabolic Engineering of Plant Secondary MetabolitesView all 5 articles
Comprehensive analysis of Dof transcription factors in Dendrobium species and functional characterization of DoDof4 in the accumulation of water-soluble polysaccharide
Provisionally accepted
Zhangting Xu1
Guihua Zhang2Feixiong Zheng1Xiaoji Deng1Yiming Sun1
Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva3Xiaoxia Shen1
Zhenming Yu1*- 1Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
- 2Zhejiang Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
- 3P. O. Box 7, Ikenobe 3011-2, Kagawa-ken, Japan
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Dendrobium is a multi-purpose medicinal orchid that grows on the edge of high-altitude cliffs. The content of water-soluble polysaccharides (WSPs), which primarily play a pharmacological role, is the main criterion for evaluating the quality of Dendrobium orchid. Therefore, it is necessary to study the regulatory manner involved in the accumulation of WSPs. In this study, the elicitation of D. officinale by methyl jasmonate (MeJA) increased WSP production, which was further amplified by extending the treatment period. Analysis of transcriptomic data revealed that members of the DNA-binding with one finger (Dof) gene family members accounted for 4% of all differentially expressed genes coding for transcription factors, following MeJA induction. To clarify the role of Dof family genes in the MeJA-mediated WSP metabolic pathway, a bioinformatics analysis identified 29, 29 and 22 Dof members in D. huoshanense, D. nobile and D. officinale, respectively. These were divided into four groups according to their phylogenetic relationships. Based on expression patterns and co-expression analysis, a regulatory factor, DoDof4, which encoded a 31.16 kDa protein composed of 292 amino acids, and was targeted on chromosome 3, was identified. DoDof4, a typical transcription factor that was localized in the nucleus, displayed transcriptional activity and increased the WSPs accumulation. DoDof4 was co-expressed with 15 genes involved in the WSP metabolic pathway, eight of which displayed a positive Pearson's correlation coefficient. Additionally, correlation analysis revealed the possible downstream targets (KM980199 and KP203853) of DoDof4. Collectively, the results of the present study suggest that DoDof4 acts as an important regulator in the WSPs metabolic pathway, exhibiting potential values for the improvement of WSPs in Dendrobium species.
Keywords: Dendrobium orchid, DOF, expression analysis, Water-soluble polysaccharides, MeJA
Received: 25 Apr 2025; Accepted: 02 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Zhang, Zheng, Deng, Sun, Teixeira da Silva, Shen and Yu. 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: Zhenming Yu, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
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