Integrated Metabolome and Transcriptome Analysis: A New Platform/Technology for Functional Biology and Natural Products Research

The advent of omics-technology has generated countless avenues for crop improvement, encompassing all the dimensions of a biological process to get better insights into the regulatory framework of various physiological and developmental processes at genomic, proteomic and metabolomic levels. The integration of information generated through different computational tools has emerged as a novel strategy for functional biology and natural product(s) research by establishing genome-metabolome relations. Metabolites, the end products of gene expression and transcripts, the link between genotype and phenotype are the critical indicators of different physiological processes, therefore sequencing may aid in the functional characterisation of its corresponding gene(s) and protein(s). In recent years, integrated transcriptomics and metabolomics studies have become popular to identify key metabolic products of different biological processes, critical genes and enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of various bioactive metabolites. The use of omics-platforms in combination with recombinant DNA tools have also been implemented for engineering plant metabolic networks to produce desired metabolites. Integrated-omics tools establish links among genes, proteins, metabolites and different physiological and morphological changes, therefore, a cointegrated approach of using omics and genetic engineering tools can be a fruitful and novel approach for the development of improved plant varieties with stress tolerance and enhanced yield. This chapter, therefore, provides an overview of different steps involved in transcriptomics, metabolomics and integrated omics technology. Moreover, the importance of omics-platform(s) in natural products research and in the development of efficient plant breeding/selection strategies for crop improvement has also been discussed in detail.