Background Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua ( P. cyrtonema ) is one of the most important herbs in traditional Chinese medicine. Polysaccharides in P. cyrtonema plants comprise a class of important secondary metabolites and exhibit a broad range of pharmacological functions. Results In order to identify genes involved in polysaccharide biosynthesis, we performed RNA sequencing analysis of leaf, root, and rhizome tissues of P. cyrtonema . A total of 164,573 unigenes were obtained by assembling transcripts from all three tissues and 86,063 of these were annotated in public databases. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were determined based on expression profile analysis, and DEG levels in rhizome tissues were then compared with their counterparts in leaf and root tissues. This analysis revealed numerous genes that were either up-regulated or uniquely expressed in the rhizome. Multiple genes encoding important enzymes, such as UDP glycosyltransferases (UGTs), or transcription factors involved in polysaccharide biosynthesis were identified and further analyzed, while a few genes encoding key enzymes were experimentally validated using quantitative real-time PCR. Conclusion Our results substantially expand the public transcriptome dataset of P. cyrtonema and provide valuable clues for the identification of candidate genes involved in metabolic pathways. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13007-019-0441-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Artemisia argyi Lev. et Vant. (A. argyi) is widely utilized for moxibustion in Chinese medicine, and the mechanism underlying terpenoid biosynthesis in its leaves is suggested to play an important role in its medicinal use. However, the A. argyi transcriptome has not been sequenced. Herein, we performed RNA sequencing for A. argyi leaf, root and stem tissues to identify as many as possible of the transcribed genes. In total, 99,807 unigenes were assembled by analysing the expression profiles generated from the three tissue types, and 67,446 of those unigenes were annotated in public databases. We further performed differential gene expression analysis to compare leaf tissue with the other two tissue types and identified numerous genes that were specifically expressed or up-regulated in leaf tissue. Specifically, we identified multiple genes encoding significant enzymes or transcription factors related to terpenoid synthesis. This study serves as a valuable resource for transcriptome information, as many transcribed genes related to terpenoid biosynthesis were identified in the A. argyi transcriptome, providing a functional genomic basis for additional studies on molecular mechanisms underlying the medicinal use of A. argyi.

Arisaema heterophyllum Blume (AhBl) is one of the valued medicinal plants. However, its genetic information is limited, which impedes further studies of this valuable resource. To investigate the genes involved in the isoflavonoid biosynthesis, we deeply performed transcriptome sequencing for AhBl. An average of 10.98 Gb clean reads were obtained based on root, tuber and leaf tissues, and 109,937 unigenes were yielded after de novo assembly. In total, 72,287 of those unigenes were annotated in at least one public database. The numbers of expressed unigenes in each tissue were 35,686, 43,363 and 47,783, respectively. The overall expression levels of transcripts in leaf were higher than those in root and tuber. Differentially expressed genes analysis indicated that a total of 12,448 shared unigenes were detected in all three tissues, 10,215 of which were higher expressed in tuber than that in root and leaf. Besides, 87 candidate unigenes that encode for enzymes involved in biosynthesis of isoflavonoid were identified and analyzed, and some key enzyme genes were experimentally validated by quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR). This study provides a unique dataset for the systematic analysis of AhBl functional genes and expression characteristics, and facilitates the future study of the pharmacological mechanism of AhBl.

Background Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi is a valuable herb used in traditional Chinese medicine. Isoflavonoids are the major bioactive compounds in P. lobata, namely puerarin, daidzin, glycitin, genistin, daidzein, and glycitein, which have pharmacological properties of anti-cardiovascular, anti-hypertension, anti-inflammatory, and anti-arrhythmic. Methods To characterize the corresponding genes of the compounds in the isoflavonoid pathway, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analyses of roots, stems, and leaves of P. lobata were carried out on the BGISEQ-500 sequencing platform. Results We identified 140,905 unigenes in total, of which 109,687 were annotated in public databases, after assembling the transcripts from all three tissues. Multiple genes encoding key enzymes, such as IF7GT and transcription factors, associated with isoflavonoid biosynthesis were identified and then further analyzed. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) results of some genes encoding key enzymes were consistent with our RNA-Seq analysis. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were determined by analyzing the expression profiles of roots compared with other tissues (leaves and stems). This analysis revealed numerous DEGs that were either uniquely expressed or up-regulated in the roots. Finally, quantitative analyses of isoflavonoid metabolites occurring in the three P. lobata tissue types were done via high-performance liquid-chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry methodology (HPLC-MS/MS). Our comprehensive transcriptome investigation substantially expands the genomic resources of P. lobata and provides valuable knowledge on both gene expression regulation and promising candidate genes that are involved in plant isoflavonoid pathways.