Combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis - To explore the alleviating effect of glutathione on leaves of Pogostemon cablin (Patchouli) under cadmium stress

With the increasing severity of cadmium pollution, plant growth is threatened, and glutathione has a alleviating effect on cadmium, but its alleviating effect has not been clearly reported on patchouli. In this study, the physiological indexes and enzyme activities of the control group (CK), cadmium stress (Cd), glutathione (G) and both groups (G+Cd) were determined, and the results showed that the contents of chlorophyll A, B and carotenoids in group G were significantly higher than those in the other three groups by about 20%. The activity of antioxidant enzymes in the Cd group was reduced by about 15%. Combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis showed that glutathione was involved in alleviating glycerophospholipid metabolism and flavonoid synthesis under cadmium stress, and dgkA1, 2 and CCoAOMT1-4 were involved in alleviating the effects. In conclusion, glutathione alleviates the synthesis of photosynthetic pigments under cadmium stress, alleviates the accumulation of reactive oxygen species through enzyme activity, and also regulates glycerophospholipid metabolism and flavonoid synthesis to alleviate cadmium stress, providing data support for future cultivation and culture of patchouli.