Ouyang Yue, Zhang Zhi-Feng
Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology Macao 999078, China State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology Macao 999078, China.
Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2022 Dec;47(23):6271-6277. doi: 10.19540/j.cnki.cjcmm.20220809.101.
Metagenomics constructs genomic libraries by directly extracting DNA from all microorganisms from environmental samples, and studies microbial diversity and functional composition by microbiology and genomics. The metagenomic technology and genome sequencing can be used to discover the unculturable environmental microorganisms and study the natural products in the medicinal materials related to them, which overcome the limitations of microbial isolation and culture technology and is of great significance for the discovery of new genes or genomes. The quality and safety of traditional Chinese medicine materials(TCMMs) have always been a hot topic in the research on TCMMs. In addition to the intrinsic characteristics, environmental factors and human intervention also affect the quality and clinical efficacy of TCMMs. Environmental microorganisms, rhizosphere microorganisms, and endophytes play an essential role in the growth, secondary metabolism, processing, and storage of medicinal plants. As an emerging discipline, metagenomics has been used in a variety of fields. It can not only avoid the problems caused by the limited technical conditions or strict experimental requirements but also evaluate the quality of TCMMs from a new perspective. This paper introduced the application status of metagenomics in the research of TCMMs and proposed the theoretical basis and research direction for the application of metagenomics in quality research and identification of TCMMs.
宏基因组学通过直接从环境样本中的所有微生物中提取DNA来构建基因组文库，并通过微生物学和基因组学研究微生物多样性和功能组成。宏基因组技术和基因组测序可用于发现不可培养的环境微生物，并研究与之相关的药材中的天然产物，克服了微生物分离培养技术的局限性，对新基因或基因组的发现具有重要意义。中药材的质量和安全性一直是中药材研究中的热点话题。除了内在特性外，环境因素和人为干预也会影响中药材的质量和临床疗效。环境微生物、根际微生物和内生菌在药用植物的生长、次生代谢、加工和储存中起着至关重要的作用。作为一门新兴学科，宏基因组学已应用于多个领域。它不仅可以避免技术条件有限或实验要求严格所带来的问题，还能从新的角度评估中药材的质量。本文介绍了宏基因组学在中药材研究中的应用现状，并提出了宏基因组学在中药材质量研究和鉴定中应用的理论依据和研究方向。
