[Review of contributing factors and research model of "excellent shape, high quality, and superior effect" of Dao-di herbs].

Based on the research results and development trend of modern life sciences, our team first proposed in 2020 that Dao-di herbs had the characteristics of "excellent shape, high quality, and superior effect", which broadened the scope of traditional medicinal herb description. In recent years, with the gradual deepening of the research on the natural, material, and medicinal properties of Dao-di herbs in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), the scientific connotation of "excellent shape, high quality, and superior effect" of Dao-di herbs has been enriched. "High quality" is mainly embodied in the fact that Dao-di herbs have a "unique chemotype", which can be used as the material basis of "superior effect" and can participate in regulating the formation of "excellent shape". Similar to the principle of "unity of body and spirit", in the process of long-term evolution, Dao-di herbs gradually form unique environmental adaptive characteristics, which is manifested as the "unity of shape and quality". The characteristics of "excellent shape, high quality, and superior effect" of Dao-di herbs are affected by the interaction between the genotype of the species and the ecological factors of the production area, which can be reflected in the climate-dominated type, production measure-dominated type, or germplasm-dominated type. According to the natural, material, and medicinal attributes of Dao-di herbs, model organisms such as Salvia miltiorrhiza can be constructed, and the research methodology system of the characteristics of "excellent shape, high quality, and superior effect" can be established, including quality evaluation system based on "high quality", characterization methodology system of "property-efficacy relationship", and homeostatic comprehensive control system based on "excellent shape and high quality". In the future, research on Dao-di herbs should pay more attention to in-depth and extensive basic work, and it is necessary to establish a comprehensive medicinal model plant research platform and build a medicinal model plant mutant library, so as to provide powerful model organisms for the functional gene research of other plants. Meanwhile, three research hotspots have been proposed for the research on the characteristics of "excellent shape, high quality, and superior effect" of Dao-di herbs, so as to reveal the mechanisms of their genetic basis, biological characteristics, and ecological adaptability. These studies will provide a scientific basis for optimizing the directed breeding of medicinal plants, standardizing cultivation, and improving the quality of medicinal herbs, so as to promote the sustainable use and development of Dao-di herbs.