Statement of significance of the study
Taxilli Herba (TH) is a kind of widely used traditional Chinese medicine with the characteristic of semi-parasitism. Host is an important factor affecting the quality of TH. However, most of the medicinal materials circulating and used in the market are of multi-host sources, with uneven quality. Meanwhile, the study on the molecular mechanism on the biosynthesis and accumulation of bioactive constituents in TH from different hosts remain unclear, which seriously hinders the comprehensive quality evaluation, development and utilization of TH. Therefore, it is essential to explore the the underlying molecular mechanisms. We integrated TMT-base proteomics and metabolomics to investigate the trends in the changes of proteins and metabolites involved in flavonoid pathway, and constructed a putative network of flavonoid biosynthesis in TH.
Our results provide a theoretical foundation for the selection of TH on hosts by examining the protein differences between the two host-derived TH and the functions of proteins in the biosynthesis pathway of bioactive constituents.