Rejuvenation: An effective and feasible approach for enhancing the biomass and flavonoid content of horticultural trees

Ginkgo biloba is an important tree species with substantial medicinal and ecological value. The leaves of G. biloba contain an abundance of active compounds, such as flavonoids, terpene lactones, polysaccharides, and phenols, among which more than 40 types of flavonol glycosides have been identified. Several studies have shown that flavonoid content in G. biloba leaves is closely related to tree age, with higher flavonoid glycoside contents in saplings (≤5 years) than in adult trees. This decrease in flavonoid content as trees age negatively influences the medicinal quality of their leaves. Therefore, it is worthwhile to investigate the effect of rejuvenation on leaf biomass and flavonoid accumulation in G. biloba.

Recently, scientists from Yangzhou University and Beijing Forestry University in China showed that rejuvenation treatment of 5-year-old G. biloba trees enabled the renewed G. biloba shoots to develop larger, thicker, and more lobed leaves with higher fresh/dry weights and chlorophyll contents. The authors found that the leaf biomass per hectare of the rejuvenated trees was twice that of the unrejuvenated controls. Based on metabolomic analysis, they observed a marked increase in the accumulation of flavonol glycosides, as well as upregulated expression of genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis, including CHS, FLS, F3′H, DFR, and LAR. Through overexpression of GbCHS in ginkgo calli, the authors confirmed that GbCHS plays an important role in flavonoid biosynthesis. Interestingly, the authors also found that the contents of gibberellins increased significantly in the rejuvenated leaves, and exogenous gibberellin treatment significantly increased GbCHS expression and flavonoid contents. These findings are published in Horticulture Research.

“Our findings show that truncation can stimulate tree rejuvenation by altering hormone levels, and we believed that tree rejuvenation represents an effective and feasible approach for enhancing the biomass and flavonoid content of G. biloba leaves,” said the researchers.

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Reference

Authors

Zhaogeng Lu 1,3, Likui Zhu 1, Jinkai Lu 1, Nan Shen 1, Lu Wang 1, Sian Liu 1, Qingjie Wang 1, Wanwen Yu 4, Hisashi Kato-Noguchi 5, Weixing Li 1, Biao Jin 1, Li Wang 1, and Jinxing Lin 2

Affiliations

1 College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China

2 Institute of Tree Development and Genome Editing, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 10083, China

3 Agricultural College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China

4 Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China

5 Laboratory of Plant Biochemistry, Department of Applied Biological Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Miki, Kagawa 761-0795, Japan

About Dr. Li Wang and Dr. Jinxing Lin

Dr. Li Wang is a professor in the College of Horticulture and Plant Protection at Yangzhou University. Her research interests include reproductive biology, bioinformatics, and comprehensive utilization of Ginkgo biloba resources.

Dr. Jinxing Lin is a professor in the Institute of Tree Development and Genome Editing at Beijing Forestry University. He contributes to studies of the labeling and real-time imaging of cell membrane proteins during endocytosis and exocytosis. He is also interested in dynamic observations of single molecules in plant cells, as well as in vivo tracking and dynamic characteristics of vesicles and organelles.