Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3E1, Canada.
Genome Biol. 2011 Oct 20;12(10):R102. doi: 10.1186/gb-2011-12-10-r102.
Cannabis sativa has been cultivated throughout human history as a source of fiber, oil and food, and for its medicinal and intoxicating properties. Selective breeding has produced cannabis plants for specific uses, including high-potency marijuana strains and hemp cultivars for fiber and seed production. The molecular biology underlying cannabinoid biosynthesis and other traits of interest is largely unexplored.
We sequenced genomic DNA and RNA from the marijuana strain Purple Kush using shortread approaches. We report a draft haploid genome sequence of 534 Mb and a transcriptome of 30,000 genes. Comparison of the transcriptome of Purple Kush with that of the hemp cultivar 'Finola' revealed that many genes encoding proteins involved in cannabinoid and precursor pathways are more highly expressed in Purple Kush than in 'Finola'. The exclusive occurrence of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase in the Purple Kush transcriptome, and its replacement by cannabidiolic acid synthase in 'Finola', may explain why the psychoactive cannabinoid Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is produced in marijuana but not in hemp. Resequencing the hemp cultivars 'Finola' and 'USO-31' showed little difference in gene copy numbers of cannabinoid pathway enzymes. However, single nucleotide variant analysis uncovered a relatively high level of variation among four cannabis types, and supported a separation of marijuana and hemp.
The availability of the Cannabis sativa genome enables the study of a multifunctional plant that occupies a unique role in human culture. Its availability will aid the development of therapeutic marijuana strains with tailored cannabinoid profiles and provide a basis for the breeding of hemp with improved agronomic characteristics.
大麻属植物在人类历史上一直被用作纤维、油和食物的来源，也因其药用和致醉特性而被利用。选择性育种产生了用于特定用途的大麻植物，包括高浓度大麻品种和用于纤维和种子生产的大麻品种。大麻素生物合成和其他感兴趣性状的分子生物学在很大程度上尚未被探索。
我们使用短读长方法对大麻品种 Purple Kush 的基因组 DNA 和 RNA 进行了测序。我们报告了一个 534 Mb 的单倍体基因组草案序列和一个 30000 个基因的转录组。将 Purple Kush 的转录组与大麻品种 'Finola' 的转录组进行比较，发现许多编码参与大麻素和前体途径的蛋白质的基因在 Purple Kush 中的表达水平高于在 'Finola' 中的表达水平。仅在 Purple Kush 的转录组中发现 Δ9-四氢大麻酸合酶，而在 'Finola' 中则由大麻二酚酸合酶取代，这可能解释了为什么精神活性大麻素 Δ9-四氢大麻酚（THC）在大麻中产生而不在大麻中产生。对大麻品种 'Finola' 和 'USO-31' 进行重测序显示，大麻素途径酶的基因拷贝数差异不大。然而，单核苷酸变异分析揭示了四种大麻类型之间存在相对较高的变异水平，并支持大麻和大麻的分离。
提供大麻属植物的基因组可用于研究一种在人类文化中具有独特地位的多功能植物。它的可用性将有助于开发具有定制大麻素特征的治疗性大麻品种，并为培育具有改良农艺特性的大麻提供基础。
