Wildermuth Mary C
University of California, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, 221 Koshland Hall, Berkeley, California 94720-3102, USA.
Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2006 Jun;9(3):288-96. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2006.03.006. Epub 2006 Apr 4.
Plant benzoic acids (BAs) are critical regulators of a plant's interaction with its environment. In addition, innumerable plant-derived pharmacological agents contain benzoyl moieties. Despite the prevalence and import of plant BAs, their biosynthetic pathways are not well-defined. Mounting evidence suggests that BAs are synthesized both directly from shikimate/chorismate and from phenylalanine in plants; however, few genes in these pathways have been identified. Exciting progress has been made in elucidating genes that modify BAs via methylation, glucosylation, or activation with Coenzyme A. As these modifications alter the stability, solubility, and activity of the BAs, they impact the functional roles of these molecules. The combination of multiple BA biosynthetic routes with a variety of chemical modifications probably facilitates precise temporal and spatial control over active forms, as well as the channeling of intermediates to particular benzoate products.
植物苯甲酸（BAs）是植物与其环境相互作用的关键调节因子。此外，无数植物来源的药理剂都含有苯甲酰基部分。尽管植物BAs普遍存在且很重要，但其生物合成途径尚未明确界定。越来越多的证据表明，植物中的BAs既可直接由莽草酸/分支酸合成，也可由苯丙氨酸合成；然而，这些途径中已鉴定的基因很少。在阐明通过甲基化、糖基化或与辅酶A激活来修饰BAs的基因方面已取得了令人兴奋的进展。由于这些修饰会改变BAs的稳定性、溶解性和活性，它们影响了这些分子的功能作用。多种BA生物合成途径与各种化学修饰的结合可能有助于对活性形式进行精确的时空控制，以及将中间体引导至特定的苯甲酸产物。
