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Identification, characterization and expression analysis of genes involved in steroidal saponin biosynthesis in Dracaena cambodiana

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Abstract

Dracaena cambodiana is a traditional medicinal plant used for producing dragon’s blood. The plants and dragon’s blood of D. cambodiana contain a rich variety of steroidal saponins. However, little is known about steroidal saponin biosynthesis and its regulation in D. cambodiana. Here, 122 genes encoding enzymes involved in steroidal saponin biosynthesis were identified based on transcriptome data, with 29 of them containing complete open reading frames (ORF). Transcript expression analysis revealed that several genes related to steroidal saponin biosynthesis showed distinct tissue-specific expression patterns; the expression levels of genes encoding the key enzymes involved in the biosynthesis and early modification of steroidal saponins were significantly down-regulated in the stems in response to the inducer of dragon’s blood, exhibiting positive correlations with the content of steroidal saponins. These results provide insights on the steroidal saponins biosynthetic pathway and mechanisms underlying induced formation of dragon’s blood in D. cambodiana.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81773845; 31400297), Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund for Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (Nos. 17CXTD-15, 1630052016013) and Innovation Research Group Program of Hainan Province Natural Science Foundation (No. 2017CXTD020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Crop Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, 571101, China

    Jia-Hong Zhu, Hui-Liang Li, Dong Guo, Ying Wang, Hao-Fu Dai, Wen-Li Mei & Shi-Qing Peng

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  1. Jia-Hong Zhu
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  2. Hui-Liang Li
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  3. Dong Guo
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  4. Ying Wang
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  5. Hao-Fu Dai
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  6. Wen-Li Mei
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  7. Shi-Qing Peng
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Correspondence to Wen-Li Mei or Shi-Qing Peng.

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Zhu, JH., Li, HL., Guo, D. et al. Identification, characterization and expression analysis of genes involved in steroidal saponin biosynthesis in Dracaena cambodiana . J Plant Res 131, 555–562 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-017-1004-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-017-1004-7

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