Indian Scientists sequence Tulsi genome for medicinal properties

The plant synthesises a wide range of bioactive compounds, known for their anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-pyretic and anti-cancer properties. It is widely used for therapeutic purposes. The genome map will help in making new medicines using the plant. These compounds are metabolites, compounds that are a by-product of plant metabolism, typically used for plant self-defence. These metabolites are very poorly understood because of lack of genomic information. The sequence reveals the interesting pathways used by Tulsi to make ursolic acid, a medically important compound. If one could now use modern synthetic biology techniques to synthesise ursolic acid, it would be of great benefit.

Source: Sowdhamini Ramanathan and S. Ramaswamy, 2015, National Centre of Biological Science, Bengaluru

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