Fig 1.
Compound profiles of L. japonica flower buds and flowers.
A: An overview of annotated compounds identified through GC-MS analysis. B: An overview of annotated compounds identified through LC-MS analysis. C: A Venn diagram illustrating the compounds identified by both GC-MS and LC-MS. D: The profiles of amino acids present in the samples. E. The content of essential and non-essential amino acids.
Fig 2.
The plot of PCA, OPLS-DA model, and heatmap analyses of L. japonica flower buds and flowers.
A: The PCA plot of the compound profiles obtained via GC-MS. B: The PCA plot of the compound profiles derived from LC-MS. C: The OPLS-DA score plot based on GC-MS data. D: The OPLS-DA score plot from LC-MS data. E: The corresponding validation plots resulting from 200 times permutation tests of the OPLS-DA model for GC-MS. F: The corresponding validation plots resulting from 200 times permutation tests of the OPLS-DA model for LC-MS. G: The heatmap generated from hierarchical cluster analysis of the compound profiles using GC-MS. H: The heatmap generated from hierarchical cluster analysis of the compound profiles using LC-MS. Columns and rows represent different samples and individual compounds, respectively.
Fig 3.
The differential compounds between flower buds and flowers of L. japonica.
A: The volcano map of the compounds identified by GC-MS. B: Volcano map of the compounds identified by LC-MS. C-J: The duplicated differential compounds identified by both GC-MS and LC-MS. Significant differences in the bar charts are indicated by the number of asterisks: one asterisk (*) denotes p < 0.05, while two asterisks (**) denote p < 0.01, as determined by Student’s t-test.
Fig 4.
The analysis of the potential targets for the up-regulated compounds found in L. japonica flower buds and flowers.
A: A Venn diagram illustrates the potential targets identified. B: The top ten compounds exhibiting the highest degrees. C-L: A significance analysis of the content of these top ten compounds. Significant differences in the line charts are indicated by the number of asterisks: one asterisk (*) denotes p < 0.05, while two asterisks (**) denote p < 0.01, as determined by Student’s t-test.
Fig 5.
Network maps illustrating the targets of the up-regulated compounds in L. japonica flower buds and flowers.
A: Network maps of the targets of the up-regulated compounds in L. japonica flower buds. B: Network maps of the core targets of the up-regulated compounds in L. japonica flower buds. C: Network maps of the targets of the up-regulated compounds in L. japonica flowers. D: Network maps of the core targets of the up-regulated compounds in L. japonica flowers. The blue nodes represent the unique core targets of the up-regulated compounds in both L. japonica flower buds and flowers, while the yellow nodes indicate the shared targets.
Fig 6.
Compare of L. japonica flower buds and flowers in GO term associated with L. japonica flower buds and flowers.
A refers to biological processes. B pertains to cellular component. C relates to molecular functions. B, flower buds; F, flowers.
Fig 7.
“Target-pathway” network diagram combination of L. japonica flower buds and flowers.
A: “Target-pathway” network diagram for the up-regulated compounds in L. japonica flower buds. B: “Target-pathway” network diagram for the up-regulate compounds in L. japonica flowers. Yellow and red nodes indicated the unique targets/pathways associated with the up-regulated compounds in L. japonica flower buds and flowers, while blue nodes represent shared targets/pathways.
Fig 8.
Molecular docking of core compounds and targets.
A: The heatmap of the binding energy of core compounds with the target proteins derived from L. japonica flower buds. B: Molecular docking models showcasing the interactions between core compounds and target proteins of L. japonica flower buds. C: The heatmap depicting the binding energy of core compounds in relation to target proteins of L. japonica flower. D: Molecular docking models representing the interactions between core compounds and target proteins of L. japonica flower.