**4.1. Transcriptome profiling of economically important plants**

Understanding the transcriptome and the functional elements of the economically important plants can provide tremendous insights into biological entities, critical for traits such as disease resistance, productivity, and characteristics such as flavor. Recently, Hu et al. [134] performed transcriptome assembly and annotation for the spice black pepper. Black pepper is one of the most widely used fruit for adding flavor to food as well for its medicinal properties. The authors were able to identify genes that might participate in piperidine, quinolizidine, indolizidine, and lycopodium alkaloid biosynthesis, of which piperidine alkaloids account for pungent taste and medicinal properties of black pepper. Similarly, Shudeesh et al. [135] performed assembly and annotation of field pea, a legume that is cultivated worldwide for human as well as livestock consumption. Studies have also been undertaken to identify transcriptomes of the pathogens that infect economically important plants and the defense mechanisms deployed by the plants. For example, the transcriptome of coffee leaf rust pathogen Hemileia vastatrix was sequenced by Talhinhas et al. [136] to identify genes/ pathways that play a key role in the early stage of the infection, and Yang et al. [137] sequenced the sand pear germplasm with differential resistance to infection by *Alternaria alternata* to identify genes that contribute toward the resistance.
