Work

Preharvest soybean meal supplementation alters tissue-specific protein and amino acid composition in Morchella sextelata: integrated transcriptomic and proteomic analysis

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Preharvest nutrient inputs can modify mushroom composition, but whether graded supplementation differentially affects the protein and amino acid composition of anatomically distinct fruiting-body tissues remains unclear. This study aimed to characterize the compositional and molecular responses of the cap and stipe of Morchella sextelata to additional soybean meal. Protein and 18 hydrolyzed amino acids were quantified following 0–10% supplementation, while the control, 2%, 4%, and 8% treatments were analyzed by transcriptomics and proteomics. Protein content responded nonlinearly and was highest at 8% in both tissues; total and essential amino acid contents were also highest in 8% caps. However, cap protein-normalized essential amino acid proportionality did not improve correspondingly, distinguishing compositional enrichment from amino acid balance. Caps generally exhibited more differentially expressed genes, whereas stipes contained more differentially expressed proteins, with downregulated proteins predominating in the 2 and 8% stipe comparisons. Integrated analyses associated these responses with carbon and amino acid metabolism, translation, protein homeostasis, energy metabolism, and RNA processing. These findings demonstrate tissue- and molecular-layer-dependent responses to preharvest nutrient supplementation. Future studies should determine whether the associated pathways translate into altered enzyme activities, metabolic fluxes, and sensory-relevant metabolites.

Source: Frontiers in Nutrition

DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2026.1979592