Biodiversity Mining Through Transcriptome Analysis

Secondary metabolites or chemical constituents of plants are functional products synthesized through more complex multienzymatic secondary metabolite pathways. The release of few secondary metabolites is related to the exertion of morphological differentiation and maturation during plant development. Secondary metabolite compounds designate huge chemical diversity, i.e., each plant possesses its own complex diverse set of metabolites. This diversity imparts analytical challenges, characterization of a number of metabolites in parallel, and quantification of particular compound of interest. These compounds itself are related to significant plant traits (color and fragrance of flowers, taste and color of food, and resistance toward pests and pathogens) and also for the synthesis of fine chemicals such as medicines (anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidants, etc.), flavors, fragrances, dyes, insecticides, pheromones, and antimicrobial agents. The emergence of cost-effective high throughput sequencing or next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology quickly expanded transcriptome information of several plant species, which could be analyzed for quick identification of previously unknown genes and enzymes and elucidation of biosynthetic pathways. The present chapter details diverse secondary metabolites, gene expression patterns, molecular basis of chemical diversity of the compounds, and application of NGS based transcriptome profiling for biosynthetic pathway elucidation.

Citation: Sabu, K. K. and F. Nadiya. 2017. Biodiversity Mining Through Transcriptome Analysis. In: Bioresources and Bioprocess in Biotechnology, Volume 1: Status and Strategies for Exploration, Part II. Eds. Sabu A, N.S. Pradeep, S. Shiburaj. pp 207-246. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-3573-9_10. Springer, Singapore.