Transcriptome Sequencing of Pinellia ternata with Different Leaf Types

Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Breit., a member of the Araceae family, is documented in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2025 edition) for its dried tuber, which is used as a dampness-drying and phlegm-resolving medicinal agent. It possesses the functions of downbearing counterflow to stop vomiting, reducing swelling, and dissipating nodules. P. ternata exhibits strong adaptive growth capacity and is distributed across multiple provinces in China, including Sichuan, Hubei, Guizhou, Gansu, and Shanxi. Notably, P. ternata from different producing areas shows inconsistent characteristics in terms of growth, chemical composition, and stress resistance, with leaf shape variation being particularly prominent. According to preliminary surveys[3], based on the length-to-width ratio of the main leaf blade, four primary leaf types can be classified: the peony-leaf type (approximately 2.7:1), the peach-leaf type (approximately 4.2:1), the bamboo-leaf type (approximately 7:1), and the willow-leaf type (approximately 12.3:1). Geographically, the bamboo-leaf and willow-leaf types are commonly found in regions such as Shanxi and Hebei, whereas the peony-leaf and peach-leaf types are mainly distributed in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Hubei. Chemical composition analysis reveals differences in quality among the different leaf types. For instance, the total alkaloid and total organic acid contents in the bamboo-leaf type are higher than those in the other three leaf types. This indicates that leaf type is not only an important morphological classification index but may also be closely related to complex traits such as growth and development, metabolic product synthesis, and environmental adaptability in P. ternata.