The Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum L. and its Genome
Ocimum sanctum L. (O. tenuiflorum) is popular in India as "Holy basil" It is not only designated as sacred basil but is also used as an important ingredient in Indian and some international traditional medicinal systems. There are many theories about the origin of "Tulsi" in ancient Hindi scripts. This herb is a repository of medicinal compounds and thus is also used in treatment of various diseases and disorders, but the validation of phytomolecules with differential therapeutic activities is still a challenge. Approximately, 80% of the patents on Ocimum sp. are on the chemical extracts or the utility of plant parts with main focus on essential oil components. Thus, an effort towards recognition of full metabolic potential of this sacred herb, sequencing of the whole nuclear and chloroplast genomes was performed. The data generated was obtained by combining the sequence reads from 4 libraries of three NGS platforms. This data resulted in a saturated genome draft assembly of about 386 Mb. Pathway analysis from the data indicated the dominance of phenylpropanoids in O. sanctum. Comparison of the available genes and the chemical compounds in O. sanctum and its nearest neighbor Salvia miltiorrhiza, revealed the prospects of discovering new active molecules. This information generated will help in providing new insights relating to the medicinal nature of the metabolites synthesized in the plant.