Rhazya stricta Genome sequencing and assembly

Rhazya stricta Decne is an evergreen shrub of the Apocynaceae family and Gentianales order that grows abundantly in the middle east and India. . Like others in the Gentianales order, Rhazya is a producer of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIA). MIAs are of interest because several have antibacterial activity and some, like vinblastine and vincristine have found use as anticancer agents. Most of current research has focused on another plant in this family, Catharathus roseus, in attempts to produce these compounds in vitro. We sequenced and assembled the nuclear genome of Rhazya stricta in order to better understand the metabolic pathways related to the generation of these compounds and to perform genome-scale comparative analyses within the order relative to more distant lineages. This could provide insight on the genetic factors involved in the evolution of this highly valuable aspect of plant secondary metabolism.