ROLE OF COMPUTATIONAL STUDIES IN RESEARCH OF Catharanthus roseus L.

Indian subcontinent constitutes a region of vast biological diversity of medicinal plants that have not yet been thoroughly explored and documented. Catharanthus roseus L, is one such herbaceous plant that could be a potent medicative plant, several of the medicinal actions like antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-diarrheal, anti-helminthic, wound healing, anti-ulcer, hypotensive, anti-sterility, antidiabetic effects are associated with it. Catharanthus roseus is the most studied medicinal plant as it produces various kinds of Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids (MIAs) which includes two of the majorly used alkaloids in chemotherapies. Alkaloids are the key phytochemical constituent of any medicinal plant that may differ in their chemical structure possessing varied medicinal benefits. But the biosynthesis of MIA is very complex and branched. Herewith, in this review, an effort has been taken to highlight the overall therapeutic result of the plant and to document updated knowledge concerning its ancient uses, isolated bioactive compounds, and medicinal activities. As the pathway involved is so complex and not understood well due to missing vital enzymes of the pathway. So, there is a need to decipher all the missing enzymes to develop a complete understanding of this pathway. This will help in replicating the synthetic pathway in some other plant as in Catharanthus roseus synthesis of these MIA is very insignificant. The computational tools like CathaCys and croFGD with transcriptomic data derived from next-generation sequencing can help in solving out the problem leading to elucidation of the pathway and further enhancing the synthesis.