The effect of tetraploidy on the expression of genes involved in alkaloid biosynthesis in Papaver fugax Poir.

Polyploidy, a common phenomenon in the evolution of plant species, plays an imperative role in plant diversification. Bride rose poppy (Papaver fugax Poir.) is a valuable medicinal plant due to its various alkaloids, such as fugapavin, mecambrin, romerine, salutaridine, protopine, and thebaine. In this study, we used quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to study the differential expression of four key genes, including CYPB80B1 ((S)-N-methylcoclaurine-3’-hydroxylase), MLP (major latex protein), 6OMT ((S)-norcoclaurine-6-O-methyltransferase), and salAT (7(S)-salutaridinol-7-O-acetyltransferase), involved in the biosynthesis of poppy alkaloids. The assessment of extracted RNA samples on 1% agarose gel electrophoresis and NanoDrop showed the proper quality and quantity of isolated RNA samples for cDNA synthesis. Gene expression analysis through qRT-PCR revealed increased expression of CYP80B1, MLP, and SalAT genes and decreased expression of 6OMT in tetraploid plants compared with diploids. Our results indicated that autotetraploidy induction could be applied, as a useful method, to increase morphine production in P.  fugax.