人参皂苷合成关键酶-人参糖基转移酶(Glycosyltransferase)的研究

Ginsenosides are considered to account for the bioactivity of Panax ginseng. To elucidate the biosynthetic pathway and to regulate the biosynthetic process of ginsenosides is important for quality control in ginseng production and also important for people healthcare. This is also an important foundation and prerequisite for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology study of ginseosides. Glycosylation catalyzed by glycosyltransferases (GTs) is the key steps in ginsenosides biosynthetic pathway, which contributes to the diversity of ginsenosides in Panax plants. An intensive study of GTs is necessary for obtaining the high-value ginsenosides by synthetic biology and for enhancing the quality of ginseng as medicinal materials..In this study, molecular biology, bio-informatics and cell biology techniques will be used to elucidate the molecular mechanism of Glycosylation in ginsenosides biosynthesis. Based on the transcriptome data, the GT genes involved in the glycosylation will be picked out. Then, the full-length sequence of these genes will be cloned by RACE and other molecular biology methods. Next, a series of biological experiments will be used to reveal the function of these important genes. All these study will clarify the biological functions of these genes, and the e kinetic and catalytic mechanisms of ginsenosides glycosylation process. This study is not only an indispensable part of ginsenosides biosynthesis study, but also the foundation of the metabolic engineering, synthetic biology and molecular breeding research of panax ginseng.

人参皂苷是人参的药效物质基础，阐明人参皂苷的生物合成途径并实现代谢调控对于保障人参品质优良稳定、满足医疗卫生行业对人参皂苷的需求具有重要意义，也是人参皂苷代谢工程及合成生物学研究的重要基础和前提。糖基转移酶(GT)主导的糖基化及糖基链伸长是人参皂苷生物合成过程中的关键步骤,也是人参皂苷多样性形成的决定性步骤，对其进行深入研究对选择性地获得具有较高价值的人参皂苷及提升人参药材品质具有重要意义。本研究将利用分子生物学，生物信息学和细胞生物学等技术对人参皂苷合成过程中糖基化及糖基链伸长过程进行研究。基于已获得的人参转录组数据，筛选出参与到人参皂苷糖基化过程中糖基链伸长相关的基因，通过RACE等技术克隆出这些人参皂苷合成的关键基因，再进行一系列深入的功能研究，揭示其催化的分子机制。本研究是人参皂苷生物合成研究不可缺少的部分，也是对进行人参进行代谢调控、合成生物学与分子育种学研究的基。