Comparison of phytochemical properties and expressional profiling of artemisinin synthesis-related genes in various species.

The genus belongs to the Asteraceae family and is used in the treatment of many different diseases such as hepatitis and cancer. So far, around 500 species of have been found in different regions of the world. Artemisinin is one of the medicinal compounds found in Artemisia species. Hence, this medical feature encourages researchers to pay attention to various species of this genus to discover more genetic and phytochemical information. In the present study, five species of Artemisia including , , , , and were compared to each other in terms of the artemisinin content and other phytochemical components. Moreover, the relative expression profiles of eight genes related to the accumulation and synthesis of artemisinin [including , , , , , , , and ] were determined in investigated species. The result of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis showed that the content of artemisinin in various species was in the order of  >  >  >  > . Based on the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, 34, 26, 26, 24, and 20 phytochemical compounds were identified for , , , , and species, respectively. Moreover, camphor (38.86%), β-thujone (68.42%), spathulenol (48.33%), β-farnesene (48.16%), and camphor (29.04%) were identified as the considerable compounds , , , , and species, respectively. Considering the relative expression of the targeted genes, A. scoparia revealed higher expression for the gene. The highest relative expression of the , , and genes was found in species. Moreover, showed the highest expression of the and genes than the other species. In conclusion, our findings revealed that various species of have interesting breeding potential for further investigation of different aspects such as medicinal properties and molecular studies.