Metabolomic and Transcriptomic Profiling of Two Closely Related Species within the Genus Oldenlandia

The genus Oldenlandia encompasses numerous medicinal plants with significant pharmacological potential, yet their tissue-specific metabolism and transcriptional profiles remain understudied. This study combined transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to compare the differences in five tissues (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits) between two closely related Oldenlandia species, Oldenlandia diffusa and Oldenlandia corymbosa. Using a widely targeted metabolomics approach based on UPLC-MS/MS, we monitored 1,343 metabolites across 60 samples from the two species. Transcriptome sequencing generated 272.121 Gb and 257.039 Gb of clean data for Oldenlandia diffusa and Oldenlandia corymbosa, respectively, along with 37,644 and 20,825 annotated genes. Comparative analysis revealed numerous differentially expressed genes, whose diverse functions were elucidated through GO enrichment. This comprehensive dataset provides a valuable resource for further investigating the phenotypic traits and metabolic mechanisms underlying the pharmacological activities of these medicinally important Oldenlandia species.