Strategies on biosynthesis and production of bioactive compounds in medicinal plants

Miaoxian Guo; Haizhou Lv; Hongyu Chen; Shuting Dong; Jianhong Zhang; Wanjing Liu; Liu He; Yimian Ma; Hua Yu; Shilin Chen; Hongmei Luo

doi:10.1016/j.chmed.2023.01.007

Strategies on biosynthesis and production of bioactive compounds in medicinal plants

Chin Herb Med. 2023 Aug 21;16(1):13-26. doi: 10.1016/j.chmed.2023.01.007. eCollection 2024 Jan.

Authors

Miaoxian Guo¹, Haizhou Lv¹, Hongyu Chen¹, Shuting Dong¹, Jianhong Zhang¹, Wanjing Liu¹, Liu He^{1

2}, Yimian Ma^{1

2}, Hua Yu³, Shilin Chen⁴, Hongmei Luo^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Lab of Chinese Medicine Resources Conservation, State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of China, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China.
² Engineering Research Center of Chinese Medicine Resource, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100193, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Hangzhou City for Ecosystem Protection and Restoration, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China.
⁴ Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 611137, China.

Abstract

Medicinal plants are a valuable source of essential medicines and herbal products for healthcare and disease therapy. Compared with chemical synthesis and extraction, the biosynthesis of natural products is a very promising alternative for the successful conservation of medicinal plants, and its rapid development will greatly facilitate the conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants. Here, we summarize the advances in strategies and methods concerning the biosynthesis and production of natural products of medicinal plants. The strategies and methods mainly include genetic engineering, plant cell culture engineering, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology based on multiple "OMICS" technologies, with paradigms for the biosynthesis of terpenoids and alkaloids. We also highlight the biosynthetic approaches and discuss progress in the production of some valuable natural products, exemplifying compounds such as vindoline (alkaloid), artemisinin and paclitaxel (terpenoids), to illustrate the power of biotechnology in medicinal plants.

Keywords: biosynthetic strategies; biotechnology; medicinal plants; natural products; synthetic biology.

Publication types

Review