Comparative proteomics and metabolomics unveil regional variations in Dendrobium officinale

Dendrobium officinale (D. officinale) is a well-known medicinal plant in China with a variety of pharmacological uses. Although D. officinale from different regions has diverse active components, it remains unclear what are the underlying causes of these variations. Inter-regional variations in D. officinale from Anhui (AH), Zhejiang (ZJ), and Yunnan (YN) were preliminarily characterized through physiological and biochemical indicator assessments, followed by comprehensive proteomic and metabolomic profiling to identify differential protein signatures and metabolic patterns. The findings demonstrated that although D. officinale samples from different geographical origins shared a similar metabolic profile, the concentrations of key bioactive compounds (e.g., polysaccharides and dendrobine) varied significantly. AH, ZJ and YN were found to have 205 differently expressed metabolites and 1689 differentially expressed proteins. It was shown that the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and flavonoid biosynthesis pathways were the primary targets of the differentially expressed proteins and metabolites. Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, 4-coumarate-CoA ligase, caffeoyl shikimate esterase, chalcone isomerase, and chalcone synthase are the main enzymes involved in these metabolic pathways. This work offers a fresh perspective on the diversity of D. officinale origin in terms of proteins and metabolites, which is useful for thoroughly examining the growth pattern, therapeutic potential, and possible bioactive elements of D. officinale.