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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Proteomics and Protein Structural Biology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1517851

Transcriptome analysis reveals regulatory mechanism of methyl jasmonate-induced monoterpenoid biosynthesis in Mentha arvensis L

Provisionally accepted
Tingting Huang Tingting Huang Wenjin Men Wenjin Men Ariuntungalag Myanganbayar Ariuntungalag Myanganbayar Undarmaa Davaasambuu Undarmaa Davaasambuu *
  • Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Mentha arvensis L. (M. arvensis) is an aromatic plant of the Mentha genus, renowned for its medicinal and economic importance. The primary components of its essential oils (EOs) are monoterpenoids, synthesized and stored in peltate glandular trichomes (PGTs). In general, the EO content in M. arvensis is relatively low. Methyl jasmonate (MJ) has been reported as an effective elicitor of terpenoid biosynthesis in medicinal plants, but the specific mechanisms underlying MJ's influence on M. arvensis remain unclear. In this study, exogenous application of MJ significantly increased the EO content, yield, and PGT density in a dose-dependent manner. At a 5 mM dose, the EO content and PGT density peaked, with increases of 71.20% and 53.69%, respectively. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis indicated that, in general, MJ treatment did not significantly alter the types or relative proportions of EO components of M. arvensis. However, L-menthol content decreased slightly by 7.80% under 5 mM MJ treatment. Transcriptome analysis identified 4,659 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in MJ-treated leaves. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that "Monoterpenoid biosynthesis" was among the most significantly enriched metabolic pathways. Key genes involved in jasmonic acid (JA) signaling (JAZs and MYCs) and monoterpenoid biosynthesis (GPPSs, LSs, L3Hs, and IPRs) were significantly up-regulated. Coexpression analysis, promoter binding element analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) indicated that transcription factors (TFs) such as AP2/ERF, WRKY, MYB, and bHLH play crucial roles in regulating MJ-mediated monoterpenoid biosynthesis. Several key candidate TFs potentially involved in regulating monoterpenoid biosynthesis in M. arvensis were identified. These findings provide valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms regulating monoterpenoid accumulation in the Mentha genus.

    Keywords: Mentha arvensis (mint), Essential oil, Jasmonic acid, Monoterpenoid, Glandular trichome, transcriptome showed a slight reduction of transcription factors (TFs) For example, Additionally, such as

    Received: 27 Oct 2024; Accepted: 16 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Huang, Men, Myanganbayar and Davaasambuu. 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: Undarmaa Davaasambuu, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

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