Genomic and transcriptomic data of the terpenophenolic-producing plant Helichrysum umbraculigerum

Cannabinoids exert diverse biological and pharmacological effects, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anxiolytic, antitumor, antiemetic, antiepileptic, and many more via modulation of the endocannabinoid system1-4. Cannabinoids are typical of Cannabis sativa L. (Cannabis), although some specific compounds have also been identified in other flowering plants, liverworts, and fungi5,6. One of these plants is Helichrysum umbraculigerum Less (Helichrysum). This perennial South-African plant is the only known plant other than Cannabis, producing cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), the five-carbon alkyl precursor of all the major cannabinoids7. This plant has also been suggested as the most known versatile source of cannabinoids5, since, along with CBGA, it also produces different aralkyl-type cannabinoids denoted as amorfrutins.