Pathway elucidation and engineering of plant-derived diterpenoids

Abstract

Plant-derived diterpenoids are indispensable to plant development, stress-resistance and interaction with environmental microorganisms. Besides significant roles in plant fitness and adaption, many bioactivities beneficial to human beings are also found in diterpenoids from terrestrial plants. However, these high-value compounds are always present in limited species with low-abundance. Complicated chemosynthesis hardly meets the needs of sufficient supplies. To overcome these obstacles, it is necessary to investigate how diterpenoids are biosynthesized in planta, and followed by engineering the biosynthetic pathway to achieve high yield production. This review will summarize the recent progress of plant diterpenoid biosynthetic pathway discovery and engineering, hoping to offer an inspiration for concerned researchers.