Biosynthesis and biotechnological production of ginsenosides.
Medicinal plants are essential for improving human health, and around 75% of the population in developing countries relies mainly on herb-based medicines for health care. As the king of herb plants, ginseng has been used for nearly 5,000 years in the oriental and recently in western medicines. Among the compounds studied in ginseng plants, ginsenosides have been shown to have multiple medical effects such as anti-oxidative, anti-aging, anti-cancer, adaptogenic and other health-improving activities. Ginsenosides belong to a group of triterpene saponins (also called ginseng saponins) that are found almost exclusively in Panax species and accumulated especially in the plant roots. In this review, we update the conserved and diversified pathway/enzyme biosynthesizing ginsenosides which have been presented. Particularly, we highlight recent milestone works on functional characterization of key genes dedicated to the production of ginsenosides, and their application in engineering plants and yeast cells for large-scale production of ginsenosides.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University-University of Adelaide Joint Centre for Agriculture and Health, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; Department of Oriental Medicinal Biotechnology and Graduate School of Biotechnology, College of Life Science, Kyung Hee University, Youngin, 446-701, South Korea.
Yu-Jin
YJ
Kim
Shanghai Jiao Tong University-University of Adelaide Joint Centre for Agriculture and Health, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, Urrbrae, South Australia 5064, Australia. Electronic address: zhangdb@sjtu.edu.cn.
Dabing
D
Zhang
Department of Oriental Medicinal Biotechnology and Graduate School of Biotechnology, College of Life Science, Kyung Hee University, Youngin, 446-701, South Korea. Electronic address: dcyang@khu.ac.kr.
Deok-Chun
DC
Yang
D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D036145:Ginsenosides / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D060847:Metabolic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D005894:Panax / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
D036145:Ginsenosides
Accumultation; Biosynthesis; Ginseng; Ginsenoside; Industrial production; Panax; Physiological role; Recombinant yeast cells; Transgenic plants