MetaBioSys Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal, India.
Commun Biol. 2021 Oct 15;4(1):1193. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02720-y.
Curcuma longa, or turmeric, is traditionally known for its immense medicinal properties and has diverse therapeutic applications. However, the absence of a reference genome sequence is a limiting factor in understanding the genomic basis of the origin of its medicinal properties. In this study, we present the draft genome sequence of C. longa, belonging to Zingiberaceae plant family, constructed using 10x Genomics linked reads and Oxford Nanopore long reads. For comprehensive gene set prediction and for insights into its gene expression, transcriptome sequencing of leaf tissue was also performed. The draft genome assembly had a size of 1.02 Gbp with ~70% repetitive sequences, and contained 50,401 coding gene sequences. The phylogenetic position of C. longa was resolved through a comprehensive genome-wide analysis including 16 other plant species. Using 5,388 orthogroups, the comparative evolutionary analysis performed across 17 species including C. longa revealed evolution in genes associated with secondary metabolism, plant phytohormones signaling, and various biotic and abiotic stress tolerance responses. These mechanisms are crucial for perennial and rhizomatous plants such as C. longa for defense and environmental stress tolerance via production of secondary metabolites, which are associated with the wide range of medicinal properties in C. longa.
姜黄，俗称 turmeric，传统上以其巨大的药用特性而闻名，具有多种治疗应用。然而，缺乏参考基因组序列是理解其药用特性起源的基因组基础的一个限制因素。在这项研究中，我们展示了姜黄的基因组草图序列，属于姜科植物家族，使用 10x 基因组学连接读取和牛津纳米孔长读取构建。为了进行全面的基因集预测，并深入了解其基因表达，我们还对叶片组织进行了转录组测序。该基因组草图的大小为 1.02Gb，重复序列约占 70%，包含 50401 个编码基因序列。通过包括 16 个其他植物物种在内的全基因组综合分析确定了姜黄的系统发育位置。使用 5388 个直系同源群，在包括姜黄在内的 17 个物种中进行的比较进化分析表明，与次生代谢、植物植物激素信号转导以及各种生物和非生物胁迫耐受反应相关的基因发生了进化。这些机制对于姜黄等多年生和根茎植物至关重要，通过产生与姜黄广泛的药用特性相关的次生代谢物来防御和耐受环境胁迫。
