Exploitation of next generation sequencing technologies for unraveling metabolic pathways in medicinal plants: A concise review

چکیده مقاله

Medicinal plants having high-value and unique active ingredients are attractive in different industries, including pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic sectors. The phytochemicals in these plants are synthesized through diverse biosynthetic pathways including those for mevalonate, shikimic, acetic acid and so forth. Several key enzymes catalyze different reactions in these pathways and convert precursors to final products. Identification of rate limiting enzymes in the biosynthetic pathways of the secondary metabolites and their encoding genes can reveal the bottlenecks of these pathways and ultimately lead us to develop an appropriate breeding strategy for selecting plants possessing desirable and high-quantity active ingredients. Next-generation sequencing methods, in the last two decades, have contributed, in many ways to a more detailed study of medicinal plants and a deeper exploration of these pathways. In …