Recent progress and new perspectives for diterpenoid biosynthesis in medicinal plants

Abstract

Diterpenoids, including more than 18,000 compounds, represent an important class of metabolites that encompass both phytohormones and some industrially relevant compounds. These molecules with complex, diverse structures and physiological activities, have high value in the pharmaceutical industry. Most medicinal diterpenoids are extracted from plants. Major advances in understanding the biosynthetic pathways of these active compounds are providing unprecedented opportunities for the industrial production of diterpenoids by metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. Here, we summarize recent developments in the field of diterpenoid biosynthesis from medicinal herbs. An overview of the pathways and known biosynthetic enzymes is presented. In particular, we look at the main findings from the past decade and review recent progress in the biosynthesis of different groups of ringed compounds. We also discuss diterpenoid production using synthetic biology and metabolic engineering strategies, and draw on new technologies and discoveries to bring together many components into a useful framework for diterpenoid production.

Biologically Active Diterpenoids in the Clerodendrum Genus—A Review

“…Such plant diterpenoids most commonly occur in a cyclic form [ 22 ]. The diterpenoids are classified into abietane, caurane, caurene, clerodane and labdane types according to their main skeleton [ 23 ].…”

Functional Characterization of a 2OGD Involved in Abietane-Type Diterpenoids Biosynthetic Pathway in Salvia miltiorrhiza

“…Tanshinones are a class of structural highly oxidized abietane-type diterpenoids with various biological activities, including antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities, as well as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular protective effects ( Wang et al, 2007 ; Zhang et al, 2012 ; Li et al, 2018 ), which inspired many studies toward their biosynthesis. Tanshinones biosynthesis pathway requires the skeleton formation, structural oxidation modification, aromatization, demethylation, and formation of furan ring ( Figure 1 ) ( Wu et al, 2012 ; Hu et al, 2021 ). The S. miltiorrhiza copalyl pyrophosphate synthase 1 (SmCPS1) and S. miltiorrhiza kaurene synthase-like 1 (SmKSL1) sequentially catalyze (E, E, E) -geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) to produce miltiradiene, the precursor of tanshinones ( Gao et al, 2009 ).…”

QCSH: a Full Quantum Computer Nuclear Shell-Model Package

“…FQE performs all calculations on a quantum computer, avoiding the slow and tedious switching between classic and quantum computers. FQE has been demonstrated in chemistry calculation [13], and attracted attention in recent years [17][18][19][20][21][22].…”