Artemisia annua, commonly known as sweet wormwood or Qinghao, is a shrub native to China and has long been used for medicinal purposes. A. annua is now cultivated globally as the only natural source of a potent anti-m...Artemisia annua, commonly known as sweet wormwood or Qinghao, is a shrub native to China and has long been used for medicinal purposes. A. annua is now cultivated globally as the only natural source of a potent anti-malarial compound, artemisinin. Here, we report a high-quality draft assembly of the 1.74-gigabase genome of A. annua, which is highly heterozygous, rich in repetitive sequences, and contains 63 226 protein-coding genes, one of the largest numbers among the sequenced plant species. We found that, as one of a few sequenced genomes in the Asteraceae, the A. annua genome contains a large number of genes specific to this large angiosperm clade. Notably, the expansion and functional diversification of genes encoding enzymes involved in terpene biosynthesis are consistent with the evolution of the artemi- sinin biosynthetic pathway. We further revealed by transcriptome profiling that A. annua has evolved the sophisticated transcriptional regulatory networks underlying artemisinin biosynthesis. Based on compre- hensive genomic and transcriptomic analyses we generated transgenic A. annua lines producing high levels of artemisinin, which are now ready for large-scale production and thereby will help meet the chal- lenge of increasing global demand of artemisinin.展开更多
Artemisinin, also known as qinghaosu, a sesquiterpene endoperoxide lactone isolated from the Chinese medicinal plant Artemisia annua L., is the most effective antimalarial drug which has saved millions of lives.Due to...Artemisinin, also known as qinghaosu, a sesquiterpene endoperoxide lactone isolated from the Chinese medicinal plant Artemisia annua L., is the most effective antimalarial drug which has saved millions of lives.Due to its great antimalarial activity and low content in wild A. annua plants, researches focused on enhancing the artemisin yield in plants became a hotspot. Several families of transcription factors have been reported to participate in regulating the biosynthesis and accumulation of artemisinin.In this review, we summarize recent investigations in these fields, with emphasis on newly identified transcription factors and their functions in artemisinin biosynthesis regulation, and provide new insight for further research.展开更多
文摘Artemisia annua, commonly known as sweet wormwood or Qinghao, is a shrub native to China and has long been used for medicinal purposes. A. annua is now cultivated globally as the only natural source of a potent anti-malarial compound, artemisinin. Here, we report a high-quality draft assembly of the 1.74-gigabase genome of A. annua, which is highly heterozygous, rich in repetitive sequences, and contains 63 226 protein-coding genes, one of the largest numbers among the sequenced plant species. We found that, as one of a few sequenced genomes in the Asteraceae, the A. annua genome contains a large number of genes specific to this large angiosperm clade. Notably, the expansion and functional diversification of genes encoding enzymes involved in terpene biosynthesis are consistent with the evolution of the artemi- sinin biosynthetic pathway. We further revealed by transcriptome profiling that A. annua has evolved the sophisticated transcriptional regulatory networks underlying artemisinin biosynthesis. Based on compre- hensive genomic and transcriptomic analyses we generated transgenic A. annua lines producing high levels of artemisinin, which are now ready for large-scale production and thereby will help meet the chal- lenge of increasing global demand of artemisinin.
基金supported by National High Technology Research and Development Program(2011AA100605)Shanghai Key Discipline Cultivation and Construction Project(Horticulture+1 种基金ZXDF150005)Shanghai Jiao Tong University Agri-Engineering Program(AF1500028)
文摘Artemisinin, also known as qinghaosu, a sesquiterpene endoperoxide lactone isolated from the Chinese medicinal plant Artemisia annua L., is the most effective antimalarial drug which has saved millions of lives.Due to its great antimalarial activity and low content in wild A. annua plants, researches focused on enhancing the artemisin yield in plants became a hotspot. Several families of transcription factors have been reported to participate in regulating the biosynthesis and accumulation of artemisinin.In this review, we summarize recent investigations in these fields, with emphasis on newly identified transcription factors and their functions in artemisinin biosynthesis regulation, and provide new insight for further research.
