Taxol is a secondary metabolite with prominent anti-tumor activity, but the yield cannot meet the growing clinical demand due to lower content in yew. Now, most enzyme genes involved in taxol biosynthesis have been cloned and identified, so that obtaining this drug by using synthetic biology method has become a hotspot in recent years. However, most hydroxylases involved in taxol biosynthetic pathway have not been explored. Here, we reviewed the progress on the biosynthesis pathway of taxol, especially concerning hydroxylase. The future research areas of taxol biosynthesis through synthetic biology were also discussed to provide basis for the discovery of uncharacterized hydroxylase genes and the mass taxol production by synthetic biology technology.
紫杉醇是一种从红豆杉植物中提取的具有显著抗癌效果的萜类化合物，但在红豆杉中含量很低，难以满足日益增长的临床需求。近年来，利用合成生物学技术建立新的紫杉醇来源途径已成为研究热点。目前，紫杉醇合成相关酶基因大部分已被克隆和鉴定，但其中羟化酶基因的发现与应用仍是目前研究的热点和难点。本文对紫杉醇生物合成途径研究进展进行了综述，对其中羟化酶的克隆及功能研究体系进行了重点深入分析，最后探讨了本领域未来的研究方向并对其前景进行展望，以期为紫杉醇合成途径中未知羟化步骤的羟化酶基因克隆，以及利用合成生物学技术实现紫杉醇的大量生产提供依据。.
Keywords: biosynthesis; hydroxylase; research progress; taxol.