Rhodiola rosea Transcriptome or Gene expression

The Rhodiola genus consists of approximately 90 species of high-altitude and cold tolerant perennial plants of the Crassulaceae family native to the arctic regions of Eurasia and North America. Select species from this genus have a long history in traditional medicine with purported roles in bolstering immunity, memory and learning, while ameliorating depression, altitude sickness and fatigue. Recent studies of Rhodiola extract have also demonstrated antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties with potential applications in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Extensive phytochemical analysis of Rhodiola has identified a number of specialized glycosides, including rosiridin, rhodionin, rosarin, rosin, rosavin and salidroside with unique reported biological activities. However, high demand and low yield of these compounds from their native plant host have led to over-harvesting of these ecologically vulnerable plants from their native habitats. Consequently, the elucidation of the biosynthetic pathways for these natural products may enable metabolic engineering approaches to gain access to high-value plant natural products as an alternative to direct compound isolation from plant hosts. In this study we have generated tissue specific transcriptomes from Rhodiola rosea in an effort to mine biosynthetic genes for Rhodiola specific natural products.