Whole-genome resequencing identifies exonic single-nucleotide variations in terpenoid biosynthesis genes of the medicinal and aromatic plant common sage (Salvia officinalis L.)

Abstract

AbstractCommon sage (Salvia officinalis L.), the type species of the genus Salvia, is a historically acknowledged medicinal and aromatic plant that is utilized in several different industries for manufacturing diverse end products, including food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, personal hygiene products and insect repellants. The medical uses of sage essential oil terpenoids have made these secondary metabolites a focus of medical/pharmaceutical chemistry research. In the present work, the common sage genome was resequenced and assembled, and the protein-encoding gene content was annotated. The terpenoid biosynthesis gene repertoire, which includes 75 terpene synthase and 67 terpenoid backbone biosynthesis pathway genes, was predicted and located on assembly scaffolds, revealing tandem duplication blocks on the chromosomes. Variant analysis identified 188 variable single-nucleotide loci in the coding sequences of sage terpenoid biosynthesis genes. A total of 24,570 single-nucleotide polymorphisms were identified in the common sage total exome, representing a database of potential variable loci for targeted genotyping research. Given that terpene synthase activity is highly prone to modulation by point mutations and that the genotype plays an important role in the complex traits of terpenoid composition, single-nucleotide polymorphisms located in coding sequences constitute candidate functional markers that can be associated with terpenoid compositional traits in future research.