Abstract
Salvia miltiorrhiza synthesises tanshinones with multidirectional therapeutic effects. These compounds have a complex biosynthetic pathway, whose first rate limiting enzyme is 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGR). In the present study, a new 1646 bp fragment of the S. miltiorrhiza HMGR4 gene consisting of a promoter, 5' untranslated region and part of a coding sequence was isolated and characterised in silico using bioinformatics tools. The results indicate the presence of a TATA box, tandem repeat and pyrimidine-rich sequence, and the absence of CpG islands. The sequence was rich in motifs recognised by specific transcription factors sensitive mainly to light, salicylic acid, bacterial infection and auxins; it also demonstrated many binding sites for microRNAs. Moreover, our results suggest that HMGR4 expression is possibly regulated during flowering, embryogenesis, organogenesis and the circadian rhythm. The obtained data were verified by comparison with microarray co-expression results obtained for Arabidopsis thaliana. Alignment of the isolated HMGR4 sequence with other plant HMGRs indicated the presence of many common binding sites for transcription factors, including conserved ones. Our findings provide valuable information for understanding the mechanisms that direct transcription of the S. miltiorrhiza HMGR4 gene.