Genomics Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA, Jeonju, 54874, Republic of Korea.
Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Biotechnology, Sun Moon University, Asan, 31460, Republic of Korea.
Nat Commun. 2020 Nov 18;11(1):5875. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19681-1.
Senna tora is a widely used medicinal plant. Its health benefits have been attributed to the large quantity of anthraquinones, but how they are made in plants remains a mystery. To identify the genes responsible for plant anthraquinone biosynthesis, we reveal the genome sequence of S. tora at the chromosome level with 526 Mb (96%) assembled into 13 chromosomes. Comparison among related plant species shows that a chalcone synthase-like (CHS-L) gene family has lineage-specifically and rapidly expanded in S. tora. Combining genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and biochemistry, we identify a CHS-L gene contributing to the biosynthesis of anthraquinones. The S. tora reference genome will accelerate the discovery of biologically active anthraquinone biosynthesis pathways in medicinal plants.
番泻叶是一种广泛使用的药用植物。其对健康的益处归因于大量的蒽醌类化合物，但它们在植物中是如何产生的仍然是个谜。为了鉴定负责植物蒽醌生物合成的基因，我们在染色体水平上揭示了番泻叶的基因组序列，共组装出 526 Mb（96%）的 13 条染色体。与相关植物物种的比较表明，查尔酮合酶样（CHS-L）基因家族在番泻叶中具有谱系特异性和快速扩张。通过基因组学、转录组学、代谢组学和生物化学相结合，我们鉴定出一个 CHS-L 基因有助于蒽醌类化合物的生物合成。番泻叶参考基因组将加速发现药用植物中具有生物活性的蒽醌生物合成途径。
