Aim and Background: Genomics methods, such as EST sequences analyses, provide the ability to identify markers associated with expressed genes and miRNAs of regulatory and metabolic networks. In this article, the identification of elements related to the genome expressed in leaf nodes of Salvia fruticosa was examined.

Materials & Methods: A number of 1465 EST sequences related to the genome library expressed in the leaf node cells of plants of genus Salvia, from Lamiaceae family, were received from the NCBI database. After collecting and removal of sequences related to vector, chloroplasts, repetitive sequence and aligning them, Counting and Singleton sequences were created. Using BlastX search, the existing hits as well as the frequency and distribution of EST-SSR markers were determined by using SSR Tools. The miRNA related to the target sequences were identified using the modeling and searching in Arabidopsis plant.

Results: A number of 153 Cotig sequences and 777 Singleton sequences were found. The BLASTX revealed 477 unigenes with hit. The gene enrichment analysis put the sequences in various functional groups. Among molecular markers identified in the EST-SSRs, the AT/GA di-nucleotides, GCC tri-nucleotides and TAAT tetra-nucleotides with at least four repeats have the highest frequency. In case of penta and hexa-nucleotide repeats, the AAGAG, AGTATT and CGTGGT were reported as three subsequent repeats. For the expressed genome, 40 miRNAs related to different genes were identified.

Conclusion: The EST-SSRs identified in the plant can be used to determine the variation between different species of this genus in the plant family Lamiaceae. Two important related miRNAs to regulate the gene expression of monoterpene synthase enzyme in the production path of important terpenoids in the plant can be used.