Transcriptome profiling of two Moringa species and insights into their antihyperglycemic activity
Authors
K Shafi
National Centre for Biological Sciences (TIFR), GKVK campus, Bangalore, India
Radha Sajeevan
National Centre for Biological Sciences (TIFR), GKVK campus, Bangalore, India
Sania Kouser
Centre for Ayurveda Biology and Holistic Nutrition, The University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences & Technology (TDU), Yelahanka, Bangalore, 560064 Karnataka India
Chethala Vishnuprasad
Centre for Ayurveda Biology and Holistic Nutrition, The University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences & Technology (TDU), Yelahanka, Bangalore, 560064 Karnataka India
Ramanathan Sowdhamini
National Centre for Biological Sciences (TIFR), GKVK campus, Bangalore, India
Moringa concanensis Nimmo (MC), a plant that resembles Moringa oleifera Lam. (MO), has less scientific information but has traditionally been used as a medicinal plant. Moringa species have long been known for their medicinal qualities, which include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antihyperglycemic effects. We investigated the antidiabetic potential of MC and MO species in this study by using transcriptome profiling, metabolite analysis, and in vitro assay studies.
Results
Our transcriptome analysis revealed the expression of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of quercetin, chlorogenic acid, and benzylamine, all of which have previously been shown to have antidiabetic activity. We compared the expression patterns of five different tissues from MC and MO and it was found that the key enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of these compounds were highly expressed in leaf tissue. The expression estimated by MC transcriptome data in different tissues was verified using RT-qPCR analysis. The amount of these compounds was further quantified in the crude leaf extract of both species and found that MC had a higher abundance of quercetin and chlorogenic acid than MO. The crude leaf extract from both MC and MO were further tested in vitro, and the results demonstrated strong inhibitory activity for α-glucosidase and DPP-IV enzymes. Our findings suggest that compounds in leaf tissue, such as quercetin, benzylamine, and chlorogenic acid, could play a significant role in this antidiabetic activity. In addition, when comparing MO plants, we found that MC had a slightly higher effect in expression, abundance, and inhibitory activity.
Conclusions
This study presents the first report of MC transcriptome data, as well as a comparison of its anti-diabetic activity to MO. Our analysis discussed the significance of leaf tissue in antidiabetic activity compared to other tissues of both species. Overall, this study not only provides transcriptome resources for Moringa species, but also sheds light on antidiabetic potential of both species.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-022-03938-6.
Keywords: Moringaceae, Diabetes, RNA-seq, Transcript expression, Secondary metabolites, Enzyme inhibition
Author Biographies
K Shafi, National Centre for Biological Sciences (TIFR), GKVK campus, Bangalore, India
Centre for Ayurveda Biology and Holistic Nutrition, The University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences & Technology (TDU), Yelahanka, Bangalore, 560064 Karnataka India
Radha Sajeevan, National Centre for Biological Sciences (TIFR), GKVK campus, Bangalore, India
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-23422 Lomma, Sweden
Ramanathan Sowdhamini, National Centre for Biological Sciences (TIFR), GKVK campus, Bangalore, India
Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Bangalore, 560100 India
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