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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1540674
This article is part of the Research Topic Plant Specialized Metabolisms: Physiological Responses and Molecular Mechanisms View all 11 articles
Identification of Genetic Factors Influencing Flavonoid Biosynthesis Through Pooled Transcriptome Analysis in Mungbean Sprouts
Provisionally accepted- 1 Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 2 Gangneung–Wonju National University, Gangneung, Gangwon, Republic of Korea
- 3 Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) is gaining increasing interest among legume crops because of its nutritional value. Various secondary metabolites that act as antioxidants and bioactive compounds are beneficial for human health. The secondary metabolite content in plants is easily influenced by environmental conditions, and this influence varies depending on the genotype. Here, we screened six genotypes with consistently high and low content of major secondary metabolites (gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, neo-chlorogenic acid, genistin, formononetin, catechin, syringic acid, and resveratrol) across environmental replicates. Transcriptome data obtained from the individual genotypes were pooled into two groups: high and low levels of secondary metabolites. Of the 200 differentially expressed genes identified using stringent criteria, 23 were annotated in the secondary metabolite pathway. By combining the results of the secondary metabolite and transcriptome data, we identified six key genes encoding four enzymes (CCoAOMT1; Caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferase, CYP81E1; 4'-methoxyisoflavone 2'-hydroxylase, DFR; dihydroflavonol-4-reductase, and HCT; shikimate Ohydroxycinnamoyltransferase) that commonly influence the content of secondary metabolites (catechin, chlorogenic acid, formononetin, and genistin) in mungbeans. Through regulatory network analysis, NAC042 and MYB74 transcription factors were identified. These transcription factors regulate the expression of four key genes in mungbean, CCoAOMT1(Vradi02g00000724.1), CYP81E1(Vradi09g00002897.1), DFR(Vradi07g00001336.1), and HCT(Vradi07g00000614.1) leading to high flavonoid content. These results provide information on the common genetic factors involved in the production of secondary metabolites, which can improve the nutritional value of mungbeans and contribute to the development of elite mungbean cultivars.
Keywords: mungbean sprout, Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography, secondary metabolite content, Sample pooling, RNA-Seq, Gene Expression
Received: 06 Dec 2024; Accepted: 20 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cho, Kwon, Kim, Shim and Ha. 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:
Jungmin Ha, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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