AUTHOR=Yu Chengxin , Wang Peng , Ding Haiyan , Hu Yuan , Wang Fu , Chen Hongping , Chen Lin , Liu Youping 

TITLE=Effects of the epiphytic patterns on endophytes and metabolites of Dendrobium nobile Lindl

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1326998

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2024.1326998

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p><italic>Dendrobium</italic> is an epiphytic herb plant with neuroprotective, gastroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. It is often found attached to tree trunks or rocks. With the development of the dendrobium industry, numerous epiphytic patterns exist, such as crushed stone, stump, and sawdust. The study of metabolites and endophytes of <italic>D. nobile</italic> under different epiphytic patterns, which revealed the effects of epiphytic patterns on <italic>D. nobile</italic> from the perspectives of metabolomics and microbiology, is of great significance for the healthy development of <italic>D. nobile</italic>.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>In the study, the <italic>D. nobile</italic> under five epiphytic patterns grown in the same environment were selected. The metabolites were investigated by widely targeted metabolomics, and the endophytes were sequenced using high-throughput sequencing methods. Then, a correlation analysis between the different metabolites and endophytes was performed.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>A total of 1,032 metabolites were annotated in <italic>D. nobile</italic>. There are more flavonoids and phenolic acids accumulated on the epiphytic pattern of Danxia stone, whereas the accumulation of lipids on the other epiphytic patterns and 16 differential metabolites was screened out. The endophyte composition of <italic>D. nobile</italic> was dominated by <italic>Proteobacteria</italic>, <italic>Actinomycetes</italic>, <italic>unidentified bacteria, Firmicutes</italic>, and <italic>Cyanobacteria</italic>. For endophytic fungi, <italic>Basidiomycota</italic> and <italic>Ascomycota</italic> were the dominant phyla of <italic>D. nobile</italic>. The relative abundance of <italic>Spirosoma</italic>, <italic>Nocardioides</italic>, and <italic>Arrhenia</italic> in the Danxia stone was significantly higher than that of other epiphytic patterns. According to correlation analysis, we found a significant correlation between differential metabolites and <italic>Spirosoma</italic>, <italic>Nocardioides</italic>, and <italic>Arrheni</italic>.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>This study confirmed that Dendrobium quality was affected by its epiphytic patterns and revealed its possible causes from a microbiological point of view.</p></sec>