Opium poppy seals hundreds of millions of years of genetic code deciphering

The reporter learned from Xi'an Jiaotong University on the 30th that the latest issue of Science published the research group of Professor Ye Kai, the academic team of Ian Graham of the University of York, and the researcher of Ning Zemin of the Sangge Institute of Wellcome, UK. Collaborative paper entitled "The Synthesis of Opium Poppy Genome and Morphine", the first published high-quality genome-wide sequence and assembly analysis results of opium poppy, revealing major doubling and rearrangement events in its evolutionary history, and elucidating morphine alkaloids The evolutionary history of synthetic gene clusters laid the foundation for further development of the medicinal value of opium poppy and revealing the evolutionary history of the poppy family and even the early dicots.

Cracking the opium poppy genome is a world problem that needs to be solved in the scientific community today. Since the opium poppy genome has a large number (about 70%) of repetitive sequences and has undergone several large-scale doubling and rearrangement events, it is extremely difficult to resolve the genome. Professor Ye Kai's team worked with the British team to target the opium poppy plants in the UK for more than two years. For the first time, the whole genome sequencing and high-quality assembly analysis of opium poppy were completed internationally. At the same time, through the development and utilization of genomic deep mining algorithms and models, it was first discovered that 15 genes of opium poppy synthetic cough nectar and analgesic morphine alkaloids form super gene clusters on chromosome 11, which are in roots and stems. Specific expression and co-expression, which can synergistically and efficiently synthesize new secondary metabolites, and the most potent morphine alkaloids and narcotine in opium poppy belong to the secondary metabolite of poppy.

Through research, scientists have deciphered the opium poppy to seal billions of years of genetic code and revealed the mystery of the synthesis of morphine secondary metabolites, which is beneficial to the development of molecular plant breeding tools and the cultivation of new varieties. It can also be used to produce reliable, inexpensive, and effective painkillers for the benefit of humans. (Reporter Shi Junbin)