Study of terpene biosynthetic pathways in medicinal plants based on big data analysis

Abstract Salvia miltiorrhiza is a plant of the genus Sage in the family Labiatae, and the dried roots and rhizomes are important medicinal herbs in traditional Chinese medicine, and triterpenoids are important bioactive substances in the fruits with pharmacological effects. The study utilized transcriptome and triterpenoid metabolite analyses to obtain 21 candidate structural genes that may be related to triterpenoid biosynthesis and 8 transcription factors involved in triterpenoid biosynthesis. During the growth and development of Salvia miltiorrhiza, the content of triterpenes and the expression of structural genes farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (ZjFPS) and squalene synthase (ZjSQS) were highly correlated, and based on the correlation analysis of the functional genes with the precursors of the salvinor pathway of salvia glycoside synthesis, salvia glycoside element and de-benzoyl salvinorhizaide, 21 CYP450 candidate genes, 13 2DD candidate genes, and 14 UGT candidate genes were identified. We identified 21 CYP450 candidate genes, 13 2ODD candidate genes and 14 UGT candidate genes, and successfully cloned 5 highly expressed UGTs and carried out crude enzyme extraction.