Terpenoid Biosynthetic Pathway in Ferula persica Using Transcriptome Analysis and Metabolome Data

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
J. Nasiri 1
M. R. Naghavi 2
A. Soorni 3
D. J. van Dijk 4
1 Nuclear Agriculture Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, AEOI, P. O. Box: 31485-498, Karaj, Islamic Republic of Iran.
2 Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Agricultural and Natural Resources College, University of Tehran, Karaj, Islamic Republic of Iran.
3 Department of Biotechnology, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Islamic Republic of Iran.
4 Plant Sciences Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
10.22034/JAST.26.1.177
Abstract
An effort was made to analyze metabolome and transcriptome profiles of Ferula persica via GC-MS and RNA-seq data. The analysis of the essential oils extracted from both flower and root tissues demonstrated the prominence of monoterpene constituents, while sesquiterpene compounds were present in the lower magnitudes. Considering transcriptome analysis, 2127 differentially expressed genes were found between root and flower: 396 transcripts were up-regulated in root, while 1731 exhibited an up-regulation pattern in flower. Out of 2127 transcripts, 86 were annotated as Terpene Synthases (TPSs), of which 83 TPSs were classified subsequently into five individual sub-families of TPS-a (33), TPS-b (42), TPS-c (2), TPSe-f (3), and TPS-g (3). Several transcription factor families were recognized among the differentially expressed genes, suggesting their direct or indirect regulatory roles for the biosynthesis of terpenoids in F. persica. Finally, according to our phylogenetic results, both F. assa-foetida and F. gummosa were placed in the same clade, while F. persica was lonely settled in one monophyletic clade, with the estimated divergence time of 2.99 Million Years Ago (MYA) between F. gummosa and F. assa-foetida, and 3.87 MYA between F. persica and two other Ferula species.

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Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology
Volume 26, Issue 1
January and February 2024
Pages 177-192