Insights into salvianolic acid B biosynthesis from chromosome‐scale assembly of the Salvia bowleyana genome

Salvia bowleyana is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant that is a source of nutritional supplements rich in salvianolic acid B and a potential experimental system for the exploration of salvianolic acid B biosynthesis in the Labiatae. Here, we report a high‐quality chromosome‐scale genome assembly of S. bowleyana covering 462.44 Mb, with a scaffold N50 value of 57.96 Mb and 44,044 annotated protein‐coding genes. Evolutionary analysis revealed an estimated divergence time between S. bowleyana and its close relative S. miltiorrhiza of ~3.94 million years. We also observed evidence of a whole‐genome duplication in the S. bowleyana genome. Transcriptome analysis showed that SbPAL1 (PHENYLALANINE AMMONIA‐LYASE1) is highly expressed in roots relative to stem and leaves, paralleling the location of salvianolic acid B accumulation. The laccase gene family in S. bowleyana outnumbered their counterparts in both S. miltiorrhiza and Arabidopsis thaliana, suggesting that the gene family has undergone expansion in S. bowleyana. Several laccase genes were also highly expressed in roots, where their encoded proteins may catalyze the oxidative reaction from rosmarinic acid to salvianolic acid B. These findings provide an invaluable genomic resource for understanding salvianolic acid B biosynthesis and its regulation, and will be useful for exploring the evolution of the Labiatae. Deeper understanding of the regulatory mechanisms underlying salvianolic acid B biosynthesis and the evolution of the Labiatae would greatly benefit from a better genome assembly. Our findings provide a valuable genomic resource for understanding salvianolic acid B biosynthesis, and will be useful for exploring the evolution of the Labiatae.