Comparative transcriptomics of two Salvia subg. Perovskia species contribute towards molecular background of abietane-type diterpenoid biosynthesis

Tanshinones, are a group of diterpenoid red pigments present in Danshen – an important herbal drug of Traditional Chinese Medicine which is a dried root of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. Some of the tanshinones are sought after as pharmacologically active natural products. To date, the biosynthetic pathway of tanshinones has been only partially elucidated. These compounds are also present in some of the other Salvia species, i.a. from subgenus Perovskia , such as S. abrotanoides (Kar.) Sytsma and S. yangii B.T. Drew. Despite of the close genetic relationship between these species, significant qualitative differences in their diterpenoid profile have been discovered. In this work, we have used the Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry analysis to follow the content of diterpenoids during the vegetation season, which confirmed our previous observations of a diverse diterpenoid profile. As metabolic differences are reflected in different transcript profile of a species or tissues, we used metabolomics-guided transcriptomic approach to select candidate genes, which expression possibly led to observed chemical differences. Using an RNA-sequencing technology we have sequenced and de novo assembled transcriptomes of leaves and roots of S. abrotanoides and S. yangii . As a result, 134,443 transcripts were annotated by UniProt and 56,693 of them were assigned as Viridiplantae. In order to seek for differences, the differential expression analysis was performed, which revealed that 463, 362, 922 and 835 genes indicated changes in expression in four comparisons. GO enrichment analysis and KEGG functional analysis of selected DEGs were performed. The homology and expression of two gene families, associated with downstream steps of tanshinone and carnosic acid biosynthesis were studied, namely: cytochromes P-450 and 2-oxoglutarate-dependend dioxygenases. Additionally, BLAST analysis revealed existence of 39 different transcripts related to abietane diterpenoid biosynthesis in transcriptomes of S. abrotanoides and S. yangii . We have used quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis of selected candidate genes, to follow their expression levels over the vegetative season. A hypothesis of an existence of a multifunctional CYP76AH89 in transcriptomes of S. abrotanoides and S. yangii is discussed and potential roles of other CYP450 homologs are speculated. By using the comparative transcriptomic approach, we have generated a dataset of candidate genes which provides a valuable resource for further elucidation of tanshinone biosynthesis. In a long run, our investigation may lead to optimization of diterpenoid profile in S. abrotanoides and S. yangii , which may become an alternative source of tanshinones for further research on their bioactivity and pharmacological therapy.