Abstract
Expressed sequence tags (ESTs) provide a valuable tool that can be used to identify genes in secondary metabolite biosynthesis. Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A Meyer) is a medicinal plant that accumulates ginsenosides in roots. We sequenced 11,636 ESTs from five ginseng libraries in order to create a gene resource for biosynthesis of ginsenosides, which are thought to be the major active component in roots. Only 59% of the ginseng ESTs exhibited significant homology to previously known polypeptide sequences. Stress- and pathogen-response proteins were most abundant in 4-year-old ginseng roots. ESTs involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis were identified by a keyword search of BLASTX results and a domain search of ginseng ESTs. We identified 4 oxidosqualene cyclase candidates involved in the cyclization reaction of 2,3-oxidosqualene, 9 nine cytochrome P450 and 12 glycosyltransferse candidates, which may be involved in modification of the triterpene backbone.
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Abbreviations
- cDNA :
-
Complementary DNA
- ESTs :
-
Expressed sequence tags
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Acknowledgement
This research was supported by a grant to D.W.C. (code# PF003101–04) from the Plant Diversity Research Center of the 21st Century Frontier Research Program funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Korean government.
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Communicated by I.S. Chung
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Jung, J.D., Park, HW., Hahn, Y. et al. Discovery of genes for ginsenoside biosynthesis by analysis of ginseng expressed sequence tags. Plant Cell Rep 22, 224–230 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-003-0678-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-003-0678-6