Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.
Department of Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Plant Biotechnol J. 2022 Sep;20(9):1651-1669. doi: 10.1111/pbi.13863. Epub 2022 Jun 30.
Plants produce myriad aroma compounds-odorous molecules that are key factors in countless aspects of the plant's life cycle, including pollinator attraction and communication within and between plants. For humans, aroma compounds convey accurate information on food type, and are vital for assessing the environment. The phenylpropanoid pathway is the origin of notable aroma compounds, such as raspberry ketone and vanillin. In the last decade, great strides have been made in elucidating this pathway with the identification of numerous aroma-related biosynthetic enzymes and factors regulating metabolic shunts. These scientific achievements, together with public acknowledgment of aroma compounds' medicinal benefits and growing consumer demand for natural products, are driving the development of novel biological sources for wide-scale, eco-friendly, and inexpensive production. Microbes and plants that are readily amenable to metabolic engineering are garnering attention as suitable platforms for achieving this goal. In this review, we discuss the importance of aroma compounds from the perspectives of humans, pollinators and plant-plant interactions. Focusing on vanillin and raspberry ketone, which are of high interest to the industry, we present key knowledge on the biosynthesis and regulation of phenylalanine-derived aroma compounds, describe advances in the adoption of microbes and plants as platforms for their production, and propose routes for improvement.
植物产生无数种香气化合物——有气味的分子，这些分子是植物生命周期无数方面的关键因素，包括传粉者的吸引力以及植物内部和之间的交流。对于人类来说，香气化合物传达了有关食物类型的准确信息，对于评估环境至关重要。苯丙烷途径是许多香气化合物的起源，例如覆盆子酮和香草醛。在过去的十年中，随着众多与香气相关的生物合成酶和调节代谢分流的因子的鉴定，人们在阐明这条途径方面取得了重大进展。这些科学成就，加上公众对香气化合物药用功效的认可以及消费者对天然产品日益增长的需求，推动了新型生物资源的开发，以实现大规模、环保和廉价的生产。易于进行代谢工程改造的微生物和植物正受到关注，成为实现这一目标的合适平台。在这篇综述中，我们从人类、传粉者和植物-植物相互作用的角度讨论了香气化合物的重要性。我们重点介绍了香草醛和覆盆子酮这两种行业内高度关注的化合物，介绍了苯丙氨酸衍生香气化合物生物合成和调控的关键知识，描述了采用微生物和植物作为生产平台的进展，并提出了改进途径。
