Transcriptome Analysis of Developmental Gene Expression in Thesium chinense Turcz

<i>Thesium chinense</i> Turcz. (<i>T. chinense</i>), a perennial herb in the Santalaceae family, exhibits potent antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Transcriptome sequencing was performed on one- and two-year-old <i>T. chinense</i> plants across seedling, flowering, and fruiting stages (all sampled from the same location) using the illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. A total of 58,706 unigenes were identified, including 1656 transcription factors (TFs). Further analysis classified these TFs into seven functional categories, enabling the reconstruction of a representative TF regulatory network. Differential expression analysis revealed that the number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) ranged from 2000 to 5000 during different developmental stages in first-year plants, while varying between 1000 and 2000 in second-year plants. Comparative analysis of DEGs between one- and two-year-old plants showed that they were primarily associated with sesquiterpene, triterpene, and terpene skeleton biosynthesis, as well as other metabolic pathways. Additionally, analysis of key genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis-the major bioactive compounds in <i>T. chinense</i>-revealed their predominant accumulation during the first year of growth. This study provides valuable insights into the developmental biology of <i>T. chinense</i> and establishes a foundation for future research on flavonoid biosynthesis pathway genes and their therapeutic applications.