Photoperiod drives cannabinoid and flavonoid biosynthesis via coordinated transcriptional and gene-metabolite regulatory networks in industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) flowers.

Increasing photoperiod length (8, 10, 12 h light) in industrial hemp ( Cannabis sativa L. cv. LN6) flowers significantly boosts key cannabinoids and flavonoids, with the 8 h versus 12 h contrast showing the most integrated gene–metabolite changes.

• Why it matters: Photoperiod regulation of flowering and specialized metabolites is a major agronomic lever, but the coordinated transcriptional and metabolite networks behind cannabinoid and flavonoid production remain insufficiently mapped.
• What they did: Using a multiomic design under constant PPFD, the study profiled differentially accumulated metabolites and differentially expressed genes across photoperiods, then built co-expression modules from 276 DEGs and gene–metabolite correlation networks from 120 nodes and 1367 edges.
• The result: A transcriptional module (ME1) correlated with proanthocyanidin (r = 0.808) and total flavonoid (r = 0.527) and was qRT-PCR confirmed, while dense gene–metabolite links across terpenoid, phenylpropanoid, and flavonoid pathways reflect coordinated photoperiod-responsive biosynthesis.

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