Altitudinal Variation of Metabolites, Mineral Elements and Antioxidant Activities of Rhodiola crenulata (Hook.f. & Thomson) H.Ohba

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2021-12, Vol.26 (23), p.7383
• Main Authors: Dong, Tingting, Sha, Yueqi, Liu, Hairong, Sun, Liwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenosine; Altitude; Amino acids; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - analysis; Antioxidants - metabolism; Ascorbic acid; Ascorbic Acid - analysis; Ascorbic Acid - metabolism; Biomarkers; change; element; Energy; Enzymes; Fatty acids; Flavonoids; Flavonoids - analysis; Flavonoids - metabolism; Glycerides; Herbal medicine; high altitude; High altitude environments; Manganese; Medicinal plants; Metabolism; metabolite; Metabolites; Metabolome; Metabolomics; Minerals - analysis; Minerals - metabolism; Nucleotides; Oxidative stress; Phenols; Phenols - analysis; Phenols - metabolism; Phenylalanine; Phenylpropanoids; Phosphates; Phytochemicals; Plant Extracts - analysis; Plant Extracts - metabolism; Plant resistance; Proteins; Quercetin; rhodiola; Rhodiola - chemistry; Rhodiola - growth & development; Rhodiola - metabolism; Rhodiola crenulata; Shikimic acid; Tannins
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules26237383

(Hook.f. & Thomson) H.Ohba is an alpine medicinal plant that can survive in extreme high altitude environments. However, its changes to extreme high altitude are not yet clear. In this study, the response of to differences in altitude gradients was investigated through chemical, ICP-MS and metabolomic methods. A targeted study of growing at three vertical altitudes revealed that the contents of seven elements Ca, Sr, B, Mn, Ni, Cu, and Cd, the phenolic components, the ascorbic acid, the ascorbic acid/dehydroascorbate ratio, and the antioxidant capacity were positively correlated with altitude, while the opposite was true for total ascorbic acid content. Furthermore, 1165 metabolites were identified: flavonoids (200), gallic acids (30), phenylpropanoids (237), amino acids (100), free fatty acids and glycerides (56), nucleotides (60), as well as other metabolites (482). The differential metabolite and biomarker analyses suggested that, with an increasing altitude: (1) the shikimic acid-phenylalanine-phenylpropanoids-flavonoids pathway was enhanced, with phenylpropanoids upregulating biomarkers much more than flavonoids; phenylpropanes and phenylmethanes upregulated, and phenylethanes downregulated; the upregulation of quercetin was especially significant in flavonoids; upregulation of condensed tannins and downregulation of hydrolyzed tannins; upregulation of shikimic acids and amino acids including phenylalanine. (2) significant upregulation of free fatty acids and downregulation of glycerides; and (3) upregulation of adenosine phosphates. Our findings provide new insights on the responses of to extreme high altitude adversity.