Glandular trichome transcriptome sequencing of genus Mentha.

We sought to identify differences in gene expression in glandular trichomes among five members of the genus Mentha: M. x piperita, M. spicata, M. spicata var erospicata, M. arvensis, M. aquatica. Glandular trichomes were isolated from leaves at two different maturity stages from each plant: young (less than half full length), and mature (full length). Single end Illumina Hiseq 2000 reads were generated from mRNA for each condition. The goal was to identify differences in gene expression that explain observed differences in essential oil profiles among species and leaf maturity stages.