The Biosynthetic Pathways of Tanshinones and Phenolic Acids in Salvia miltiorrhiza
Xiao-Hui Ma,
Ying Ma,
Jin-Fu Tang,
Ya-Li He,
Yu-Chen Liu,
Xiao-Jing Ma,
Ye Shen,
Guang-Hong Cui,
Hui-Xin Lin,
Qi-Xian Rong,
Juan Guo,
Lu-Qi Huang
Affiliations
Xiao-Hui Ma
Pharmacy College, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 611137, China
Ying Ma
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-Di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
Jin-Fu Tang
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-Di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
Ya-Li He
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-Di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
Yu-Chen Liu
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-Di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
Xiao-Jing Ma
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-Di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
Ye Shen
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-Di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
Guang-Hong Cui
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-Di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
Hui-Xin Lin
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-Di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
Qi-Xian Rong
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-Di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
Juan Guo
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-Di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
Lu-Qi Huang
State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-Di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
Secondary metabolites from plants play key roles in human medicine and chemical industries. Due to limited accumulation of secondary metabolites in plants and their important roles, characterization of key enzymes involved in biosynthetic pathway will enable metabolic engineering or synthetic biology to improve or produce the compounds in plants or microorganisms, which provides an alternative for production of these valuable compounds. Salvia miltiorrhiza, containing tanshinones and phenolic acids as its active compounds, has been widely used for the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The biosynthetic analysis of secondary metabolites in S. miltiorrhiza has made great progress due to the successful genetic transformation system, simplified hairy roots system, and high-throughput sequencing. The cloned genes in S. miltiorrhiza had provided references for functional characterization of the post-modification steps involved in biosynthesis of tanshinones and phenolic acids, and further utilization of these steps in metabolic engineering. The strategies used in these studies could provide solid foundation for elucidation of biosynthetic pathways of diterpenoids and phenolic acids in other species. The present review systematically summarizes recent advances in biosynthetic pathway analysis of tanshinones and phenolic acids as well as synthetic biology and metabolic engineering applications of the rate-limiting genes involved in the secondary metabolism in S. miltiorrhiza.
