{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,22]],"date-time":"2026-07-22T04:40:45Z","timestamp":1784695245054,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":92,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770681600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Joint Special Project for Agricultural Basic Research of Yunnan Province","award":["202401BD70001\u2013110"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202401BD70001\u2013110"]}]},{"name":"Young Talent Special Program of the Yunnan Xingdian Talent Support Initiative","award":["XDYC-QNRC-2022\u20130229"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XDYC-QNRC-2022\u20130229"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Bamboo shoots represent a traditional food in China, with most varieties exhibiting a bitter taste; however, understanding of the compounds responsible for this bitterness remains limited. In this study, shoots of a special-germplasm bitter-tasting Dendrocalamus brandisii (Dbs) were investigated, using sweet-tasting Dendrocalamus brandisii (Db) shoots as a control. Electronic tongue analysis, broad-target metabolomics, targeted metabolomics, and transcriptomics were employed to identify the metabolites and key genes associated with bitterness in Dbs shoots. Electronic tongue measurements revealed a significant difference in bitterness between the two groups. Human sensory evaluation confirmed that Dbs was perceived as significantly more bitter and less sweet than Db (p &lt; 0.01). Nontargeted metabolomics screening identified 43 differential metabolites, 19 of which were upregulated in Dbs. Targeted analysis of these differential metabolites, combined with the BitterDB database and previously reported bitter compounds, suggested that 4-Hydroxybenzoate, gallic acid, epicatechin, tryptophan, histidine, and apigenin may contribute to the bitterness of Dbs. Among these, 4-Hydroxybenzoate showed an approximately 92-fold higher content in Dbs compared to Db. The taste activity values (TAVs) of the identified bitter compounds were calculated; only 4-Hydroxybenzoate exhibited a TAV greater than 1 (14.581), while the TAV of the other compounds were all below 1. Integrating broad-target metabolomics, targeted metabolomics, and TAV analysis, 4-Hydroxybenzoate was inferred to be one of the primary bitter substances. Transcriptomic analysis indicated significant upregulation of key genes in the biosynthetic pathway of 4-Hydroxybenzoate, including PAL, 4CL, and C4H. Enzyme activity assays further demonstrated that phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, 4-coumarate-CoA ligase, and cinnamate 4-hydroxylase activities were markedly higher in Dbs than in Db. RT-qPCR validation confirmed that the expression levels of 4CL3, 4CL4, PAL1, PAL2, PAL3, PAL4, and PTAL were significantly elevated in Dbs, consistent with the transcriptomic data. In conclusion, 4-Hydroxybenzoate is proposed as the most likely key compound responsible for the bitterness in Dbs shoots. This study provides valuable insights into the bitterness formation mechanism in this Dbs and offers important information for the improvement of its edible quality.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants15040560","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T15:23:14Z","timestamp":1770736994000},"page":"560","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Integrated Metabolomics and Transcriptomics Reveal Bitter Compounds and Synthetic Pathways in the Special-Germplasm Bitter-Tasting Dendrocalamus brandisii"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Hao","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Resources Exploitation and Utilization Engineering Research Center for Grand Health of Yunnan Provincial Universities, College of Biological Science and Food Engineering, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dejia","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Resources Exploitation and Utilization Engineering Research Center for Grand Health of Yunnan Provincial Universities, College of Biological Science and Food Engineering, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yongchao","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Resources Exploitation and Utilization Engineering Research Center for Grand Health of Yunnan Provincial Universities, College of Biological Science and Food Engineering, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yongmei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Resources Exploitation and Utilization Engineering Research Center for Grand Health of Yunnan Provincial Universities, College of Biological Science and Food Engineering, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hui","family":"Zhan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Resources Exploitation and Utilization Engineering Research Center for Grand Health of Yunnan Provincial Universities, College of Biological Science and Food Engineering, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7954-9773","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shuguang","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Resources Exploitation and Utilization Engineering Research Center for Grand Health of Yunnan Provincial Universities, College of Biological Science and Food Engineering, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-7605-2675","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forest Resources Exploitation and Utilization Engineering Research Center for Grand Health of Yunnan Provincial Universities, College of Biological Science and Food Engineering, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China"},{"name":"Biological Research and Utilization Innovation Team in Bamboo Resources of Yunnan Province, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China"},{"name":"Edible and Medicinal Fungi Research Innovation Team, College of Biological and Food Engineering, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Advances in Genetic Breeding of Bamboo Plants","volume":"21","author":"Gao","year":"2023","journal-title":"World Bamboo Ratt."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"100","article-title":"China Bamboo Resources Report 2021","volume":"21","author":"Feng","year":"2023","journal-title":"World Bamboo Ratt."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"386","article-title":"Structural characteristics of hemicelluloses and lignin-carbohydrate complexes in alkaline-extracted bamboo green, core, and yellow","volume":"10","author":"Wang","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. 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