ANALYSIS ON PHENOTYPE, CATALPOL ACCUMULATION AND METHYLATION OF REHMANNIA GLUTINOSA

Rehmannia glutinosa is one of traditional Chinese herbal medicines, its phenotype, catalpol accumulation and genomic methylation were studied in this research. During the growth and development of Rehmannia glutinosa, leaf length, plant height and catalpol accumulation increased continuously along with the extension of growth stage, and reached peak in the later growth stage. 5-methylcytosine (5mC) content and methylation level in genome also increased along with the growth of Rehmannia glutinosa, and reached the highest value in the later growth stage, however genomic methylation in leaf and root was different at the same growth stage and was higher in leaf. As compared with that of Rehmannia glutinosa planted in Xinxiang, leaf length, plant height, catalpol accumulation and 5mC content in Wenxian were all higher at the same growth stage, full-methylation was main in genomic methylation of Rehmannia glutinosa planted in Wenxian, yet semi-methylation was main for genomic methylation of Rehmannia glutinosa plants in Xinxiang. Therefore, Wenxian maybe more suitable to plant Rehmannia glutinosa, and this research would help to explore the correlation between ecological environment and growth of Rehmannia glutinosa.