具有多方面生理活性的樟叶越桔是广泛应用于化妆品行业的皮肤美白天然活性剂原料熊果苷的主要植物来源之一。前期研究发现，优于熊果苷生理活性的6'-O-咖啡酰熊果苷（CA）以干重23%的罕见高含量存在于云南省武定县野生樟叶越桔叶芽中，这为大量生产天然的熊果苷类衍生物提供了可能。将武定县野生樟叶越桔引种栽培后发现叶芽中CA含量显著下降，推测环境胁迫是导致其引种栽培前后CA含量差异显著的主要因素，但仍缺乏实验证据。本项目拟在前期工作基础上，采用化学生物学、生理生态和分子生物学等方法，研究樟叶越桔在不同逆境胁迫下CA含量变化、生理特性和基因表达差异，阐明影响樟叶越桔CA含量变化的关键限制因素及调控机制，为樟叶越桔的引种驯化和品种选育提供科学依据。

Vaccinium dunalianum (Ericaceae) with various physiological activities is one of the main plant sources of arbutin which widely used in cosmetic formulations as natural active agents to whiten the skin because of control of the formation of melanin. The previous studies found 6'-O-caffeoylarbutin(CA) with rare high content of 23% (dry weight) appeared in the buds of V.dunalianum from Wuding, Yunnan, China and had higher physiological activities than arbutin. It would be possible that mass production of natural arbutin would be achieved. However, CA content decreased significantly in V. dunalianum from Wuding County after introduction and cultivation and the reasons for this phenomenon remain unclear. It is speculated that abiotic stress would influence the content of CA,but with no experimental evidence. Based on previous studies, the project will compare the differences in CA content, physiological property and gene expression in V. dunalianum under different environmental conditions in controlled greenhouse thorough chemical biology, physiological ecology and molecular biology approaches. The main aims are to understand the primary environmental factor and physiological and metabolic processes affecting the content of CA of V. dunalianum. These results will be beneficial for illuminating the correlation of the environments with the accumulation of CA, and developing effective strategy for commercial cultivation and variety breeding of CA high-yield plant V. dunalianum.