Annotation of genes involved in high level of dihydromyricetin production in vine tea (Ampelopsis grossedentata) by transcriptome analysis

Background Leaves of the medicinal plant Ampelopsis grossedentata, which is commonly known as vine tea, are used widely in the traditional Chinese beverage in southwest China. The leaves contain a large amount of dihydromyricetin, a compound with various biological activities. However, the transcript profiles involved in its biosynthetic pathway in this plant are unknown. Results We conducted a transcriptome analysis of both young and old leaves of the vine tea plant using Illumina sequencing. Of the transcriptome datasets, a total of 52.47 million and 47.25 million clean reads were obtained from young and old leaves, respectively. Among 471,658 transcripts and 177,422 genes generated, 7768 differentially expressed genes were identified in leaves at these two stages of development. The phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway of vine tea was investigated according to the transcriptome profiling analysis. Most of the genes encoding phenylpropanoid biosynthesis enzymes were identified and found to be differentially expressed in different tissues and leaf stages of vine tea and also greatly contributed to the biosynthesis of dihydromyricetin in vine tea. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first formal study to explore the transcriptome of A. grossedentata. The study provides an insight into the expression patterns and differential distribution of genes related to dihydromyricetin biosynthesis in vine tea. The information may pave the way to metabolically engineering plants with higher flavonoid content.