[Research and application of omics technologies in genetic breeding of medicinal plants]

Medicinal plants represent a critical resource for both traditional medicine and contemporary natural product research. Studies on their genetic breeding are of paramount significance in ensuring the quality of medicinal materials, enhancing the content of bioactive constituents, and cultivating elite varieties. With the rapid advancement of sequencing technologies, omics approaches have evolved from reliance on single molecular markers to multidimensional research paradigms encompassing genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, epigenomics, and single-cell omics. This article systematically reviews the concepts of various omics sequencing technologies and their applications in the identification of germplasm resources, analysis of genetic diversity, elucidation of geo-authenticity mechanisms, biosynthesis of active compounds, and molecular breeding in medicinal plants. Furthermore, it prospects the potential of multi-omics integration in future precision breeding of medicinal plants, aiming to provide a theoretical reference for systematic, precision, and efficient genetic breeding research for medicinal plants.