药用植物中四环三萜皂苷合成生物学研究进展

萜类化合物是药用植物中结构和生物活性多样化的一类大分子化合物，是自然界中广泛存在的次级代谢产物，主要应用于食品、保健品、医药等领域。生物信息学和分子生物学研究的不断深入，极大促进了药用植物四环三萜皂苷的生物合成途径解析与关键功能基因的挖掘鉴定。本文对常见药用植物四环三萜皂苷的生物合成学研究现状展开论述，重点介绍以药用植物四环三萜皂苷为代表的几类化合物的分子合成机制和生物合成研究进展，为人工构建、优化微生物“细胞工厂”，高效合成稀有、高附加值的四环三萜类化合物，推动药用植物资源可持续利用等提供参考。

Research Progress in Synthetic Biology of Tetracyclic Triterpenoids Saponins in Medicinal Plants

Terpenoids are a class of macromolecular compounds with diversified structures and biological activities in medicinal plants. They are secondary metabolites widely existing in nature and are mainly used in food, health products, medicine and other fields. The continuous in-depth researches on bioinformatics and molecular biology have greatly promoted the analysis of biosynthetic pathways and the identification of key functional genes of tetracyclic triterpenoid saponins in medicinal plants. This article discusses the biosynthetic research status of common medicinal plant tetracyclic triterpenoids saponins, and focuses on the molecular synthesis mechanism and biosynthetic research progress of several types of compounds represented by medicinal plant tetracyclic triterpenoids saponins. These examples provide a reference for artificially constructing and optimizing microbial cell factories, efficiently synthesizing rare, high value-added tetracyclic triterpenoids, and promoting the sustainable utilization of medicinal plant resources.