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Updated: Sep 8, 2025

A Customizable Approach for the Enzymatic Production and Purification of Diterpenoid Natural Products
Published on: October 4, 2019
The chromosome-scale assembly of endive (Cichorium endivia) genome provides insights into the sesquiterpenoid
Bin Zhang1, Zhiwei Wang2, Xiangyang Han1
1National Engineering Research Center for Vegetables, Beijing Vegetable Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Science, Beijing 100097, PR China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Vegetable Germplasm Improvement, Beijing 100097, PR China; Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (North China), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the P. R. China, Beijing 100097, PR China.
Abstract:
Endive (Cichorium endivia L.) is a leafy vegetable in the Asteraceae family. Sesquiterpene lactones (STLs) in endive leaves bring a bitter taste that varies between varieties. Despite their importance in breeding varieties with unique flavours, sesquiterpenoid biosynthesis pathways in endive are poorly understood. We assembled a chromosome-scale endive genome of 641 Mb with a contig N50 of 5.16 Mb and annotated 46,711 protein-coding genes. Several gene families, especially terpene synthases (TPS) genes, expanded significantly in the C. endivia genome. STLs biosynthesis-related genes and TPS genes in more bitter varieties have shown a higher level of expression, which could be attributed to genomic variations. Our results penetrate the origin and diversity of bitter taste and facilitate the molecular breeding of endive varieties with unique bitter tastes. The high-quality endive assembly would provide a reference genome for studying the evolution and diversity of Asteraceae.
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