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.