Genome sequencing of four culinary herbs reveals terpenoid genes underlying chemodiversity in the Nepetoideae

Species within the mint family, Lamiaceae, are widely used for their culinary, cultural, and medicinal properties due to production of a wide variety of specialized metabolites, especially terpenoids. To further our understanding of genome diversity in the Lamiaceae and to provide a resource for mining biochemical pathways, we generated high-quality genome assemblies of four economically important culinary herbs, namely, sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), sweet marjoram (Origanum majorana L.), oregano (Origanum vulgare L.), and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), and characterized their terpenoid diversity through metabolite profiling and genomic analyses. A total 25 monoterpenes and 11 sesquiterpenes were identified in leaf tissue from the four species. Genes encoding enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of precursors for mono- and sesqui-terpene synthases were identified in all four species. Across all four species, a total of 235 terpene synthases were identified, ranging from ...唇形科（Lamiaceae）植物因可合成种类繁多的特化代谢产物（specialized metabolites），尤其是萜类化合物（terpenoids），而被广泛应用于烹饪、文化及医药领域。为加深对唇形科基因组多样性的认知，并为生化通路挖掘提供研究资源，本研究对四种具有重要经济价值的烹饪用香草开展了高质量基因组组装，分别为甜罗勒（Ocimum basilicum L.）、甜马郁兰（Origanum majorana L.）、牛至（Origanum vulgare L.）以及迷迭香（Rosmarinus officinalis L.）；同时通过代谢谱分析与基因组分析，表征了这四个物种的萜类化合物多样性。在四个物种的叶片组织中，共计鉴定出25种单萜（monoterpenes）与11种倍半萜（sesquiterpenes）。四个物种中均鉴定到了编码单萜与倍半萜合酶（terpene synthases）前体生物合成相关酶的基因。在全部四个物种中，共鉴定得到235个萜合酶基因，其数量范围从……