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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

A Customizable Approach for the Enzymatic Production and Purification of Diterpenoid Natural Products
Published on: October 4, 2019
Advances in UDP-Glycosyltransferases from Medicinal Plants: Discovery, Catalytic Mechanism, Engineering and
Bin Li1, Qingqing Yao1, Chen Li1
1Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources Utilization and Development, Institute of Biology, Gansu Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Abstract:
Glycosylation is a critical structural modification that shapes the pharmacological properties of bioactive ingredients from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) are the core rate-limiting biocatalysts mediating this process. Traditional plant extraction methods are constrained by resource scarcity, long growth cycles, low target content and high environmental costs, which cannot meet the large-scale industrial demand for high-value medicinal glycosides. This review systematically outlines the latest global advances in medicinal plant UGT research, covering family classification and physiological functions, multi-omics and AI-assisted gene mining, molecular basis of substrate recognition and catalytic specificity, protein engineering for performance optimization, and the construction of full-spectrum biomanufacturing systems including in vitro multi-enzyme cascades, microbial cell factories and plant suspension cell cultures. We further discuss the core challenges of industrial scale-up, regulatory compliance and clinical translation, as well as the significant economic and technical advantages of synthetic biology-based UGT biomanufacturing platforms. This work provides a complete technical framework for the engineering application of medicinal plant UGTs, to support the green and scalable production of rare natural therapeutic glycosides.
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