Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
Program of Chemical Engineering, Department of Nanongineering, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA.
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Aug;88:103148. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103148. Epub 2024 Jun 5.
Plant natural products (PNPs) hold significant pharmaceutical importance. The sessile nature of plants has led to the evolution of chemical defense mechanisms over millions of years to combat environmental challenges, making it a crucial and essential defense weapon. Despite their importance, the abundance of these bioactive molecules in plants is typically low, and conventional methods are time-consuming for enhancing production. Moreover, there is a pressing need for novel drug leads, exemplified by the shortage of antibiotics and anticancer drugs. Understanding how plants respond to stress and regulate metabolism to produce these molecules presents an opportunity to explore new avenues for discovering compounds that are typically under the detection limit or not naturally produced. Additionally, this knowledge can contribute to the advancement of plant engineering, enabling the development of new chassis for the biomanufacturing of these valuable molecules. In this perspective, we explore the intricate regulation of PNP biosynthesis in plants, and discuss the biotechnology strategies that have been and can be utilized for the discovery and production enhancement of PNPs in plants.
植物天然产物（PNPs）具有重要的药用价值。植物的固着特性导致了其在数百万年的进化过程中形成了化学防御机制，以应对环境挑战，这使其成为一种至关重要的防御武器。尽管它们很重要，但这些生物活性分子在植物中的丰度通常较低，并且常规方法在提高产量方面耗时较长。此外，人们迫切需要新的药物先导物，抗生素和抗癌药物的短缺就是一个例证。了解植物如何应对压力并调节代谢以产生这些分子，为探索发现通常处于检测限以下或未自然产生的化合物提供了机会。此外，这方面的知识有助于推进植物工程学的发展，使我们能够为这些有价值的分子的生物制造开发新的底盘。从这个角度出发，我们探讨了植物中 PNP 生物合成的复杂调控，并讨论了已经和可以用于发现和提高植物中 PNPs 产量的生物技术策略。
