De novo transcriptome sequence of Senna tora provides insights into anthraquinone biosynthesis

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 5; p. e0225564
• Main Authors: Kang, Sang-Ho, Lee, Woo-Haeng, Lee, Chang-Muk, Sim, Joon-Soo, Won, So Youn, Han, So-Ra, Kwon, Soo-Jin, Kim, Jung Sun, Kim, Chang-Kug, Oh, Tae-Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 07.05.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Accuracy; Analysis; Annotations; Anthraquinone; Anthraquinones; Biology and Life Sciences; Biosynthesis; Chemical properties; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Engineering; Gene expression; Gene sequencing; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genomes; Genomics; Kinases; Life sciences; Medicinal plants; Metabolism; Metabolites; Metronidazole; Regulatory mechanisms (biology); Research and analysis methods; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA sequencing; Seeds; Senna tora; Structure; Technology; Transcription (Genetics); South Korea; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225564

Senna tora is an annual herb with rich source of anthraquinones that have tremendous pharmacological properties. However, there is little mention of genetic information for this species, especially regarding the biosynthetic pathways of anthraquinones. To understand the key genes and regulatory mechanism of anthraquinone biosynthesis pathways, we performed spatial and temporal transcriptome sequencing of S. tora using short RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and long-read isoform sequencing (Iso-Seq) technologies, and generated two unigene sets composed of 118,635 and 39,364, respectively. A comprehensive functional annotation and classification with multiple public databases identified array of genes involved in major secondary metabolite biosynthesis pathways and important transcription factor (TF) families (MYB, MYB-related, AP2/ERF, C2C2-YABBY, and bHLH). Differential expression analysis indicated that the expression level of genes involved in anthraquinone biosynthetic pathway regulates differently depending on the degree of tissues and seeds development. Furthermore, we identified that the amount of anthraquinone compounds were greater in late seeds than early ones. In conclusion, these results provide a rich resource for understanding the anthraquinone metabolism in S. tora.