show Abstracthide AbstractTo shed light on the biosynthesis mechanisms of these diterpenes, we performed the first high-throughput RNA-seq for A. paniculata leaves with time-serialized MeJA treatments. The transcriptomic approach not only defined a comprehensive transcriptome (comprised of 20,629 highly expressed genes), but also profiled time-serialized gene expression patterns with 4,463 up-regulated genes and 6,517 down-regulated genes responding to MeJA induction. These up-regulated genes significantly enriched in biological processes like stress responses, metabolic pathways, and secondary metabolites biosynthesis, especially terpene/terpenoid metabolic process. Consistent with the gradual accumulation of andrographolide, the expression of most genes involved in MEP pathway showed progressive increase. In the hypothetical terpenoid metabolism pathway, ApCPS2, which was putatively involved in andrographolide synthesis, dramatically increased its expression. Among other co-regulated genes, 154 genes encode cytochrome P450s (CYP450s); 42 genes were predicted as UDP glycosyltransferases (UGTs); and 363 genes belong to transcription factors. Overall design: Strand-specific paired-end mRNA-seq data were generated in MeJA treated leaf samples including 0 hours past induction (hpi), 12 hpi, 24 hpi and 48 hpi with three biological replicates each to ensure the veracity.