Sacha Inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) has been considered a new potential oil crop because of its high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in its seed oil. The seed oil especially contains high amounts of α-linolenic acid (ALA), which is useful for the prevention of various diseases. However, little is known about the genetic information and genome sequence of Sacha Inchi.

Prof. XU Zengfu and his team of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) sequenced and de novo assembled the transcriptome of 8 major organs of Sacha Inchi using next-generation sequencing technology.

They performed a de novo transcriptome assembly based on transcripts sequenced in eight major organs, including roots, stems, shoot apexes, mature leaves, male flowers, female flowers, fruits, and seeds of Sacha Inchi. They generated a total of 124,750 non-redundant transcripts, of which 70,142 could be functionally annotated.

Among the eight organs analyzed in this study, the largest number of specifically expressed genes was found in female flowers while the least was found in stems.

They identified 211 unigenes and 89 unigenes potentially involved in the ALA biosynthesis and FA catabolism pathways, respectively. Compared with other organs, most of the unigenes related to ALA biosynthesis metabolism were up-regulated, whereas most of those enzymes related to FA catabolism were down-regulated in seeds of Sacha Inchi.

In particular, the up-regulation of FAD3 and FAD7 may play an important role in high level accumulation of ALA in seeds of Sacha Inchi.

The transcriptome data reported by the researchers provide the foundation for the functional genomics research and genetic improvement of Sacha Inchi.

The study entitled “De novo transcriptome assembly of the eight major organs of Sacha Inchi (Plukenetia volubilis) and the identification of genes involved in α-linolenic acid metabolism” has been published in BMC Genomics.

Contact

Prof. XU Zengfu Ph.D Principal Investigator
Key Laboratory of Tropical Plant Resources and Sustainable Use, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun 666303, Yunnan, China
E-mail: zfxu@xtbg.ac.cn
Tel: +86 691 8713051