Non-Target Metabolomics Revealed the Differences Between Sinopodophyllum hexandrum (Royle) Ying Growing in Two Different Environments

Abstract

Sinopodophyllum hexandrum (Royle) Ying is a precious traditional herb medicine, which is used to treat rheumatism, bruises, menstrual irregularities, dysmenorrhea, abdominal pain, cough and other symptoms. It is also one of the raw materials for synthetic of anti-cancer drugs, thus has high value. However, few studies have focused on the influence of different environments on S. hexandrum, especially the differences in metabolites. In this study, the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-four-stage rod mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS) was used to detect the difference in chemical components of S. hexandrum roots growing in shrubland and canopy environments. The differential metabolites of S. hexandrum were obtained by multivariate statistical analysis methods using orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). The results indicated that, S. hexandrum developed into two distinct ecotypes under different environment conditions, and their metabolism also changed accordingly. In both positive and negative modes, total 1003 compounds were detected, of which 136 compounds had significantly changes. In shrubland and canopy environments, the content of Agremonine, esculetin-7-quinic acid, 5-methoxysalicylic acid, 5-(2-hydroxythyl)-2-O-glucosylohenol, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethanol-glucopyranoside, 2-(3-D-glucopyranosyloxy-4-hydroxyphenyl) ethanol-glucopyranoside, 6-prenylapigenin, 13-hydroperoxy-otadecadienoic acid, saccharic acid were the most significant up-regulated metabolites. Moreover, there were 20 most enriched KEGG pathways including the biosynthesis of flavonoid, flavone, flavonol, phenylpropanoid, and secondary metabolites; and the metabolism of ascorbate and aldarate. Overall, the results of this study will provide ideas for the cultivation of medicinal plants and the development and utilization of resources, and provide a new research approach for improving the content of target.