title: Comparative analysis of Papaver somniferum genotypes having contrasting latex and alkaloid profiles.
abstract: Papaver somniferum produces therapeutically useful benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) like papaverine, thebaine, codeine, and morphine that accumulate in its capsular latex. Morphine is a potent analgesic but is also abused as a narcotic, which has increased the demand for non-narcotic thebaine that can be converted into various analgesics. To curtail the narcotic menace, many distinct genotypes of the plant have been developed that are deficient in morphine and/or latex. Sujata is one such latex-less low alkaloid-producing variety developed from the alkaloid-rich gum harvest variety Sampada. Its utility for gene prospecting and studying differential gene regulation responsible for its low alkaloid, nutritive seed oil, and latex-less phenotype has been exploited in this study. BIA profiling of Sujata and Sampada capsules at the early and late stages indicated that except for thebaine, Sujata had a depressed alkaloid phenotype as compared to Sampada. Comparative transcript-based analysis of the two genotypes was carried out in the early stage capsule (higher thebaine) using subtractive hybridization and microarray. Interrogation of a P. somniferum array yielded many differentially expressing transcripts. Their homology-based annotation classified them into categories--latex related, oil/lipid related, alkaloid related, cell wall related, and others. These leads will be useful to characterize the highly sought after Sujata phenotype.
authors.affiliation: CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, P.O. CIMAP, Lucknow, 226015, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Nidarshana
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
authors.forename: Mridula
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Ashutosh K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Shukla
authors.forename: Ajit K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Shasany
authors.forename: Karuna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shanker
authors.forename: Raj K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Lal
authors.forename: Suman P S
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Khanuja
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000378:metabolism*; D005838:Genotype; D007840:Latex / Q000378:metabolism*; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010207:Papaver / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D007840:Latex