![]() ![]() The metabolites are abundantly produced in the glandular trichomes on female flowers, which represent the valued ‘marijuana bud’, while male flowers are typically not consumed for recreational or medical purposes due to the scarcity of glandular trichomes. (cannabis) flowers are consumed for medicinal and recreational purposes based on the properties of their specialized metabolites (i.e. These unique properties and highly expressed genes of cannabis trichomes determine the medicinal, psychoactive and sensory properties of cannabis products.Ĭannabis sativa L. Identification and characterization of two previously unknown and highly expressed monoterpene synthases highlighted the metabolic specialization of stalked trichomes for monoterpene production. Transcriptomes of isolated floral trichomes revealed strong expression of cannabinoid and terpene biosynthetic genes, as well as uncharacterized genes highly co-expressed with CBDA synthase. Moreover, intrinsic autofluorescence patterns and disc cell numbers supported a developmental model where stalked trichomes develop from apparently sessile trichomes. In contrast, sessile trichomes on mature flowers and vegetative leaves possessed red-shifted autofluorescence, eight secretory disc cells and less monoterpene-dominant terpene profiles. These stalked trichomes had 12–16 secretory disc cells and strongly monoterpene-dominant terpene profiles. A two-photon microscopy technique using glandular trichome intrinsic autofluorescence was developed which demonstrated that stalked glandular trichomes possessed blue autofluorescence correlated with high cannabinoid levels. The objectives of this study were: to define each trichome type using patterns of autofluorescence and secretory cell numbers, to test the hypothesis that stalked trichomes develop from sessile-like precursors, and to test whether metabolic specialization occurs in cannabis glandular trichomes. Superficially, stalked and sessile trichomes in cannabis only differ in size and whether they have a stalk. Cannabinoid metabolites, together with terpenes, are produced in glandular trichomes. The cannabis leaf is iconic, but it is the flowers of cannabis that are consumed for the psychoactive and medicinal effects of their specialized metabolites. ![]()
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