title: Analysis of the transcriptome of Marsdenia tenacissima discovers putative polyoxypregnane glycoside biosynthetic genes and genetic markers.
abstract: Marsdenia tenacissima is a well-known anti-cancer medicinal plant used in traditional Chinese medicine due to bioactive constituents of polyoxypregnane glycosides, such as tenacissosides, marsdenosides and tenacigenosides. Genomic information regarding this plant is very limited, and rare information is available about the biosynthesis of polyoxypregnane glycosides. To facilitate the basic understanding about the polyoxypregnane glycoside biosynthetic pathways, de novo assembling was performed to generate a total of 73,336 contigs and 65,796 unigenes, which represent the first transcriptome of this species. These included 27 unigenes that were involved in steroid biosynthesis and could be related to pregnane backbone biosynthesis. The expression patterns of six unigenes involved in polyoxypregnane biosynthesis were analyzed in leaf and stem tissues by quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) to explore their putative function. Furthermore, a total of 15,295 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified from 11,911 unigenes, of which di-nucleotide motifs were the most abundant.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Kaiyan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Research Center on Good Agricultural Practice for Dominant Chinese Medicinal Materials, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Guanghui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Research Center on Good Agricultural Practice for Dominant Chinese Medicinal Materials, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Nihao
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Research Center on Good Agricultural Practice for Dominant Chinese Medicinal Materials, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shengchao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Research Center on Good Agricultural Practice for Dominant Chinese Medicinal Materials, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhengui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: gqs@njau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qiaosheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Research Center on Good Agricultural Practice for Dominant Chinese Medicinal Materials, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: ynaulong2316@163.com.
authors.forename: Guangqiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Long
mesh_terms: D017343:Genes, Plant; D005819:Genetic Markers; D031101:Marsdenia / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012503:Saponins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: C575295:12-0-benzoyl-8,11-ditigloyl-3,8,11,12-pentahydroxy-pregn-14-ol, 20-one 3-0-methyl-allopyranosyl(1-4)-thevetopyranoside; D005819:Genetic Markers; D012503:Saponins
keywords: Biosynthesis; Marsdenia tenacissima; Polyoxypregnane glycosides; Transcriptome