Exogenous Chlorogenic Acid Enhances Leaf Spot Disease Resistance in Understory Scutellaria baicalensis by Regulating Flavonoid Metabolism

doi:10.7525/j.issn.1673-5102.2026.04.014

Abstract

Abstract:

Chlorogenic acid（CGA） plays an important role in regulating plant disease resistance. Under pathogen stress， plants typically accumulate various secondary metabolites that are closely associated with stress tolerance. Among these， CGA can enhance plant disease resistance by modulating secondary metabolism； however， the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. To further elucidate these mechanisms， Scutellaria baicalensis plants treated with exogenous CGA were subjected to pathogen infection. Leaf chlorophyll content， malondialdehyde（MDA） content， lesion area， and flavonoid content were determined， and transcriptome sequencing coupled with cis-acting element analysis of enzyme-coding genes were performed.The results showed that CGA significantly enhanced the resistance of S. baicalensis to leaf spot disease and influenced the accumulation of the flavonoids naringenin and apigenin. Compared with the control， CGA-treated plants exhibited smaller lesion area， higher chlorophyll level， and lower MDA content. Transcriptome analysis of CGA-treated samples identified 563 differentially expressed genes（DEGs）， which were mainly enriched in pathways including phenylpropanoid biosynthesis， starch and sucrose metabolism， linoleic acid metabolism， galactose metabolism， and flavonoid biosynthesis. Notably， key flavonoid biosynthetic enzyme genes-SbPAL， SbC4H， Sb4CL1， Sb4CL2， SbFNS， SbHCT1， and SbHCT2-were significantly upregulated. Cis-acting element analysis further revealed that the promoter regions of these genes were enriched in binding sites for transcription factors such as bHLH， MYB， and GRF.In conclusion， this study demonstrates that exogenous CGA likely enhances the resistance of S. baicalensis to leaf spot disease by promoting the expression of key genes in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway， thereby increasing flavonoid accumulation.

Key words: chlorogenic acid, scutellaria baicalensis, flavonoid biosynthesis, fungal disease

CLC Number:

S763

Conghui XUE, Lili NIU, Zhihua SONG, Biying DONG, Qing YANG, Yujie FU, Dong MENG. Exogenous Chlorogenic Acid Enhances Leaf Spot Disease Resistance in Understory Scutellaria baicalensis by Regulating Flavonoid Metabolism[J]. Bulletin of Botanical Research, 2026, 46(4): 740-750.

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