Plant Omics: Isolation, Identification, and Expression Analysis of Cytochrome P450 Gene Sequences from Coleus forskohlii

The omics analyses of plants and the agrigenomics field offer the opportunity to better characterize our ecosystems. In this context, characterization of cytochrome P450 genes (CYP450s), which constitute one of the largest gene families in plants, is important. They play vital roles in biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, phytohormones as well as in detoxification of harmful chemicals. Tuberous roots of Coleus forskohlii accumulate forskolin, a potent and reversible activator of adenylate cyclase, as well as other related diterpenoids. Coleus forskohlii is also known to produce rosmarinic acid, genkwanin (7-O-methylapigenin), and guaiacol glycerin. We report here the isolation of CYP450s from C. forskohlii, expression profiling of CYP450s in different tissues, and how different elicitors/stresses regulate the expression of different CYP450 sequences. Degenerate primers, designed from the conserved regions of CYP450s, were used to amplify fragments from cDNA of C. forskohlii and a library was prepared. Sequences homologous to CYP450s were assembled into seven distinct gene fragments (CfP450C1-C7), belonging to seven CYP450 families. Expression profiling of CYP450s showed that the transcripts of CfP450C1, CfP450C4, CfP450C5, CfP450C6, and CfP450C7 were prominent in aerial tissues (flower, young leaf, and mature leaf), whereas expression of CfP450C3 was dominant in root and root tip. CfP450C2 showed higher expression in flowers and roots as compared to other tissues. Expression profiles of CYP450s, in response to different stresses (abscisic acid, methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, 2, 4-dichloro-phenoxyacetic acid, UVA, and wounding) were also studied. This study has isolated CYP450s from C. forskohlii, and will help to understand their regulation as well as their functions. This is the first report on the isolation and expression analysis of CYP450s from this herb.