Abstract

Salvia miltiorrhiza is one of the most widely used traditional medicines. Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) are a class of long noncoding RNAs that can regulate gene expression. Here, we identified 812 NATs, including 168 cis-NATs and 644 trans-NATs from twelve root, flower, and leaf samples of S. miltiorrhiza using RNA-seq. The expression profiles for 41 of 50 NATs and their sense transcripts (STs) obtained from RNA-Seq were validated using qRT-PCR. The expression profiles of 17 NATs positively correlated with their STs. GO and KEGG pathway analyses mapped the STs for cis-NATs to pathways for biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. We characterized four NATs in detail, including NAT0001, NAT0002, NAT0004, and NAT00023. Their STs are kaurene synthase-like 1 and the homologs of UDP-glucose flavonoid 3-O-glucosyltransferase 6, UDP-glycosyltransferase 90A1, and beta-glucosidase 40, respectively. The first gene is involved in the biosynthesis of bioactive tanshinones, the next two are involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis, whereas the last is involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. Besides, we found seven STs that are potential targets of miRNAs. And we found two miRNAs including miR156a and miR7208, might originate from NATs, NAT0112 and NAT0086. The results suggest that S. miltiorrhiza NATs might interact with STs, produce miRNAs, and be regulated by miRNAs. They potentially play significant regulatory roles in the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds.

Details

Title
Genome-wide identification and functional characterization of natural antisense transcripts in Salvia miltiorrhiza
Author
Jiang, Mei 1 ; Chen, Haimei 1 ; Liu Jingting 1 ; Du, Qing 2 ; Lu Shanfa 1 ; Liu, Chang 1 

 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Resource Utilization of Chinese Herbal Medicine From Ministry of Education, Engineering Research Center of Chinese Medicine Resources From Ministry of Education, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Beijing, People’s Republic of China (GRID:grid.506261.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 0706 7839) 
 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Resource Utilization of Chinese Herbal Medicine From Ministry of Education, Engineering Research Center of Chinese Medicine Resources From Ministry of Education, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Beijing, People’s Republic of China (GRID:grid.506261.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 0706 7839); Qinghai Nationalities University, College of Pharmacy, Key Laboratory of Plant Resources of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in Chemical Research, Xining, People’s Republic of China (GRID:grid.506261.6) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2493706590
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.