title: De novo Sequencing and Transcriptome Analysis of Pinellia ternata Identify the Candidate Genes Involved in the Biosynthesis of Benzoic Acid and Ephedrine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The medicinal herb, Pinellia ternata, is purported to be an anti-emetic with analgesic and sedative effects. Alkaloids are the main biologically active compounds in P. ternata, especially ephedrine that is a phenylpropylamino alkaloid specifically produced by Ephedra and Catha edulis. However, how ephedrine is synthesized in plants is uncertain. Only the phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and relevant genes in this pathway have been characterized. Genomic information of P. ternata is also unavailable.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We analyzed the transcriptome of the tuber of P. ternata with the Illumina HiSeq™ 2000 sequencing platform. 66,813,052 high-quality reads were generated, and these reads were assembled de novo into 89,068 unigenes. Most known genes involved in benzoic acid biosynthesis were identified in the unigene dataset of P. ternata, and the expression patterns of some ephedrine biosynthesis-related genes were analyzed by reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). Also, 14,468 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified from 12,000 unigenes. Twenty primer pairs for SSRs were randomly selected for the validation of their amplification effect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RNA-seq data was used for the first time to provide a comprehensive gene information on P. ternata at the transcriptional level. These data will advance molecular genetics in this valuable medicinal plant.
authors: Yunnan Research Center on Good Agricultural Practice for Dominant Chinese Medicinal Materials, Yunnan Agricultural University Kunming, China.
authors: Guang-Hui
authors: GH
authors: Zhang
authors: Yunnan Research Center on Good Agricultural Practice for Dominant Chinese Medicinal Materials, Yunnan Agricultural University Kunming, China.
authors: Ni-Hao
authors: NH
authors: Jiang
authors: Yunnan Research Center on Good Agricultural Practice for Dominant Chinese Medicinal Materials, Yunnan Agricultural University Kunming, China.
authors: Wan-Ling
authors: WL
authors: Song
authors: Yunnan Research Center on Good Agricultural Practice for Dominant Chinese Medicinal Materials, Yunnan Agricultural University Kunming, China.
authors: Chun-Hua
authors: CH
authors: Ma
authors: Yunnan Research Center on Good Agricultural Practice for Dominant Chinese Medicinal Materials, Yunnan Agricultural University Kunming, China.
authors: Sheng-Chao
authors: SC
authors: Yang
authors: Yunnan Research Center on Good Agricultural Practice for Dominant Chinese Medicinal Materials, Yunnan Agricultural University Kunming, China.
authors: Jun-Wen
authors: JW
authors: Chen
keywords: De novo sequencing; Pinellia ternata; ephedrine; phenylpropylamino alkaloids; transcriptome