Perilla, also termed as purple mint, Chinese basil, or Perilla mint, is a flavoring herb widely used in East Asia. Both crude oil and essential oil are employed for consumption as well as industrial purposes. Fatty acids (FAs) biosynthesis and oil body assemblies in Perilla have been extensively investigated over the last three decades. Recent advances have been made in order to reveal the enzymes involved in the fatty acid biosynthesis in Perilla. Among those fatty acids, alpha-linolenic acid retained the attention of scientists mainly due to its medicinal and nutraceutical properties. Lipids synthesis in Perilla exhibited similarities with Arabidopsis thaliana lipids’ pathway. The homologous coding genes for polyunsaturated fatty acid desaturases, transcription factors, and major acyl-related enzymes have been found in Perilla via de novo transcriptome profiling, genome-wide association study, and in silico whole-genome screening. The identified genes covered de novo fatty acid synthesis, acyl-CoA dependent Kennedy pathway, acyl-CoA independent pathway, Triacylglycerols (TAGs) assembly, and acyl editing of phosphatidylcholine. In addition to the enzymes, transcription factors including WRINKLED, FUSCA3, LEAFY COTYLEDON1, and ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 have been suggested. Meanwhile, the epigenome aspect impacting the transcriptional regulation of FAs is still unclear and might require more attention from the scientific community. This review mainly outlines the identification of the key gene master players involved in Perilla FAs biosynthesis and TAGs assembly that have been identified in recent years. With the recent advances in genomics resources regarding this orphan crop, we provided an updated overview of the recent contributions into the comprehension of the genetic background of fatty acid biosynthesis. The provided resources can be useful for further usage in oil-bioengineering and the design of alpha-linolenic acid-boosted Perilla genotypes in the future.

Perilla is a key component of Korean food. It contains several plant-specialized metabolites that provide medical benefits. In response to an increased interest in healthy supplement food from the public, people are focusing on the properties of Perilla. Nevertheless, unlike rice and soybeans, there are few studies based on molecular genetics on Perilla, so it is difficult to systematically study the molecular breed. The wild Perilla, Perilla citriodora ‘Jeju17’, was identified a decade ago on the Korean island of Jeju. Using short-reads, long-reads, and Hi-C, a chromosome-scale genome spanning 676 Mbp, with high contiguity, was assembled. Aligning the ‘Jeju17’ genome to the ‘PC002’ Chinese species revealed significant collinearity with respect to the total length. A total of 31,769 coding sequences were predicted, among which 3331 were ‘Jeju17’-specific. Gene enrichment of the species-specific gene repertoire highlighted environment adaptation, fatty acid metabolism, and plant-specialized metabolite biosynthesis. Using a homology-based approach, genes involved in fatty acid and lipid triacylglycerol biosynthesis were identified. A total of 22 fatty acid desaturases were found and comprehensively characterized. Expression of the FAD genes in ‘Jeju17’ was examined at the seed level, and hormone signaling factors were identified. The results showed that the expression of FAD genes in ‘Jeju17’ at the seed level was high 25 days after flowering, and their responses of hormones and stress were mainly associated with hormone signal transduction and abiotic stress via cis-elements patterns. This study presents a chromosome-level genome assembly of P. citriodora ‘Jeju17’, the first wild Perilla to be sequenced from the Korean island of Jeju. The analyses provided can be useful in designing ALA-enhanced Perilla genotypes in the future.

Background: Resistance (R) genes are crucial for defending Perilla against pathogens like anthracnose, downy mildew, and phytophthora blight. Nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) genes, the largest R-gene family, play a central role in immunity. This study aimed to identify and characterize NBS-LRR genes in P. citriodora ‘Jeju17’. Methods: Previously conducted genome-wide data for ‘Jeju17’ were analyzed in silico to identify NBS-LRR genes. Results: A total of 535 NBS-LRR genes were identified, with clusters on chromosomes 2, 4, and 10. A unique RPW8-type R-gene was located on chromosome 7. Conclusions: This study provides insights into the NBS-LRR gene family in ‘Je-ju17’, highlighting its role in disease resistance and evolutionary dynamics. By identifying can-didate R-genes, this research supports breeding programs to develop disease-resistant cultivars and improves our understanding of plant immunity.

This study investigated developmental changes in phenolic compounds and condensed tannin structure in the berry skins of three table grape cultivars, ‘Rosetta’ (RT), ‘Shooting Star’ (SS), and ‘Hongju Seedless’ (HS), from flowering to harvest. Spectrophotometric analyses were used to quantify total phenolic, proanthocyanidin, polymeric tannin, and anthocyanin contents, while high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with thioacidolysis was applied to characterize flavan-3-ol composition and determine the mean degree of polymerization (mDP) of condensed tannins. Phenolic accumulation exhibited distinct cultivar-dependent developmental patterns. Total phenolics and flavan-3-ol monomers generally decreased as berries matured, whereas anthocyanins accumulated after veraison in RT and HS. Polymeric tannins increased during the early developmental stage and subsequently declined, while mDP showed an overall tendency to increase toward maturity, particularly in RT, although the effects of cultivar, developmental time, and their interaction on mDP were not statistically significant. HS maintained high flavan-3-ol concentrations during early development, whereas SS exhibited comparatively low phenolic accumulation together with relatively limited variation in mDP. These findings provide the first comprehensive characterization of developmental changes in flavan-3-ol composition, polymeric tannin structure, and mDP in newly developed Korean table grape cultivars and a structural basis for understanding cultivar-dependent phenolic changes during berry development.