One Thousand Herb Genomes: Advancing Plant Secondary Metabolism Research in the Post-Omics Era

Sequencing 1254 herbgenomes including 1210 medicinal plants and fungi and 44 medicinal animals is a state-of-the-art project that will be instrumental to understanding therapeutic mechanisms of diverse medicinal plants. Based on my expertise in omics and plant secondary metabolism, I highlighted the significance of over one thousand herbgenomes for elucidating biosynthesis of plant flavonoids, terpenoids, nitrogen-containing secondary metabolites, and metabolic networks in the post-omics era. Meanwhile, I concisely discuss the necessity of high-quality sequencing and genome assembly for understanding plant secondary metabolism. In conclusion, the completion of over one thousand herbgenomes will advance knowledge of plant secondary metabolism and accelerate the discovery of novel medicinal metabolites.