Meta-analysis of Transcriptomics related to the genes of the mevalonate (MVA) and the 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathways for isoprenoids biosynthesis in plants

Isoprenoids and their derivatives represent the largest group of natural compounds in plants that are biosynthesized from isoprenyl diphosphate C5 units. These C5 units generated by two distinctive biosynthetic pathways in plants including mevalonate (MVA) pathway in the cytoplasm and methylerthritol phosphate (MEP) pathway in plastids. To perform a meta-analysis of two pathways of MVA and MEP, expression data of the microarray experiments in different tissues, developmental stages, biotic and abiotic stresses were used in Arabidopsis thaliana as a model plant. The transcriptom meta-analysis was carried out using Genevestigator as a large database containing transcriptomics data of GEO in NCBI and ArrayExpress in EBI. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the transcription of genes encoding the enzymes of MVA and MEP pathway did not coordinate and they had different expression patterns in developmental stages, various tissues and conditions. MVA pathway genes show the highest expression in the roots and reproductive organs, while the MEP pathway genes are expressed in photosynthetic tissues. The results obtained here can help to understand how the underlying pathway gene networks are organized and regulated in different conditions, tissues and developmental stages.