Metabolomics and Transcription Profiling of Pumpkin Fruit Reveals Enhanced Bioactive Flavonoids and Coumarins in Giant Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima)

Atlantic giant (AG, Cucurbita maxima) is a type of giant pumpkin in the Cucurbitaceae family and has the world’s largest fruit. AG possesses excellent ornamental and economic value due to its well-known large fruit. However, giant pumpkins are usually thrown away after viewing, thus generating a waste of resources. To explore the additional value of giant pumpkins, a metabolome assay was performed between AG and Hubbard (a small fruit pumpkin) fruits. We found that bioactive compounds, especially flavonoids (including 8-prenylnaringenin, tetrahydrocurcumin, galangin, and acacetin) and coumarins (including coumarin, umbelliferone, 4-coumaryl alcohol, and coumaryl acetate), with extensive antioxidant and pharmacological functions, showed higher accumulation in AG fruit than in Hubbard fruits. Comparative transcriptomics of the two pumpkin fruits indicated that the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) encoding PAL, C4H, 4CL, CSE, HCT, CAD, and CCoAOMT were relatively highly expressed, which promoted an increased accumulation of the identified flavonoids and coumarins in giant pumpkins. In addition, the construction of a co-expression network and cis-element analysis of the promoter demonstrated that differentially expressed MYB, bHLH, AP2, and WRKY transcription factors might play vital roles in regulating the expression of DEGs involved in the biosynthesis of several flavonoids and coumarins. Our current results provide new insights into the accumulation of active compounds in giant pumpkins.