A transcriptome-based analysis reveals functional differences among Dendrobium officinale Kimura & Migo species from different growing regions and with different quality levels

Abstract

Dendrobium officinale Kimura & Migo (D. officinale) is a common, high medicinal value food and herbal medicine used in the treatment of yin-deficient diseases. Adulterants obtained with similar inexpensive species of Dendrobium plants are available in the market. However, Dendrobium species with different quality levels or from different regions as well as analogous species have a similar appearance, which makes the discrimination of Dendrobium species difficult. Reliable objective methods for authenticating D. officinale are lacking. Here, samples of Dendrobium officinale Kimura & Migo (D. officinale) from two regions with three quality levels and sample of the analogous species Dendrobium compactum Rolfe ex W. Hackett (D. compactum) were subjected to genome-wide biological response fingerprinting (BioReF) in RAW264.7 ​cells by RNA sequencing. The biological pathways affected by these samples could distinguish D. officinale from D. compactum. The high-quality D. officinale samples from Yunnan exhibited the strongest inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced inflammatory genes and pathways, followed by samples from Myanmar. The medium- and low-quality samples from Yunnan exhibited weaker effects, and D. compactum exerted mild effects. The RNA sequencing results were strengthened by the results from analyses of the expression of the inflammation-related genes Il6, Ccl5, and Cox2 and the production of nitric oxide. Thus, transcriptomic profiling can be used to evaluate the quality of D. officinale and distinguish its origin.

Keywords

• Dendrobium officinale Kimura & migo
• Transcriptome analysis
• RNA sequencing
• Region
• Quality levels