Comparative temporal metabolomics studies to investigate interspecies variation in three Ocimum species

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 5234
• Main Authors: Rastogi, Shubhra, Shah, Saumya, Kumar, Ritesh, Kumar, Ajay, Shasany, Ajit Kumar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 23-03-2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 101/58; 14/63; 38/39; 38/90; 631/449/1659; 631/449/2667; Anthocyanins - analysis; Anthocyanins - metabolism; Chemical composition; Chlorophyll - analysis; Chlorophyll - metabolism; Comparative analysis; Enzymes - metabolism; Essential oils; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Humanities and Social Sciences; Medicinal plants; Metabolites; Metabolomics; Metabolomics - methods; multidisciplinary; Ocimum; Ocimum - chemistry; Ocimum - genetics; Ocimum - metabolism; Ocimum gratissimum; Ocimum kilimandscharicum; Ocimum sanctum; Oils, Volatile - chemistry; Oils, Volatile - metabolism; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plants, Medicinal - chemistry; Plants, Medicinal - metabolism; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Secondary Metabolism; Species; Terpenes; Transcription factors; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Trichomes; Trichomes - chemistry; Trichomes - metabolism
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-61957-5

Ocimum
is one of the most revered medicinally useful plants which have various species. Each of the species is distinct in terms of metabolite composition as well as the medicinal property. Some basil types are used more often as an aromatic and flavoring ingredient. It would be informative to know relatedness among the species which though belong to the same genera while exclusively different in terms of metabolic composition and the operating pathways. In the present investigation the similar effort has been made in order to differentiate three commonly occurring
Ocimum
species having the high medicinal value, these are
Ocimum sanctum
,
O. gratissimum
and
O. kilimandscharicum
. The parameters for the comparative analysis of these three
Ocimum
species comprised of temporal changes in number leaf trichomes, essential oil composition, phenylpropanoid pathway genes expression and the activity of important enzymes.
O. gratissimum
was found to be richest in phenylpropanoid accumulation as well as their gene expression when compared to
O. sanctum
while
O. kilimandscharicum
was found to be accumulating terpenoid. In order to get an overview of this qualitative and quantitative regulation of terpenes and phenylpropenes, the expression pattern of some important transcription factors involved in secondary metabolism were also studied.