{"title":"Biosynthesis of the triterpenoid withanolides in Withania somnifera","authors":"Ananth Krishna Narayanan , Dinesh A. Nagegowda","doi":"10.1016/j.pbi.2024.102576","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Ashwagandha (<em>Withania somnifera</em> L. Dunal) is a versatile medicinal plant of Solanaceae family, renowned for its potent therapeutic properties, due to which it is extensively used in Indian traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda. The medicinal properties are attributed to specialized metabolites known as withanolides, which are chemically triterpenoid steroidal lactones. Despite their significance, the biosynthetic pathway of withanolides remains poorly understood. It is hypothesized that withanolides are synthesized through the universal sterol pathway, wherein sterol precursors undergo various biochemical modifications such as hydroxylation, oxidation, cyclization, and glycosylation, yielding a diverse array of downstream withanolides and withanosides. Consequently, comprehending the biosynthetic pathway of withanolides is crucial to facilitate advancements in withanolides productivity through metabolic engineering or synthetic biology approaches. This article aims to provide an update on the efforts made toward understanding withanolides formation and regulation and highlights gaps and approaches to elucidate the withanolides biosynthesis in <em>W. somnifera</em>.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":11003,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in plant biology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Current opinion in plant biology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369526624000670","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PLANT SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera L. Dunal) is a versatile medicinal plant of Solanaceae family, renowned for its potent therapeutic properties, due to which it is extensively used in Indian traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda. The medicinal properties are attributed to specialized metabolites known as withanolides, which are chemically triterpenoid steroidal lactones. Despite their significance, the biosynthetic pathway of withanolides remains poorly understood. It is hypothesized that withanolides are synthesized through the universal sterol pathway, wherein sterol precursors undergo various biochemical modifications such as hydroxylation, oxidation, cyclization, and glycosylation, yielding a diverse array of downstream withanolides and withanosides. Consequently, comprehending the biosynthetic pathway of withanolides is crucial to facilitate advancements in withanolides productivity through metabolic engineering or synthetic biology approaches. This article aims to provide an update on the efforts made toward understanding withanolides formation and regulation and highlights gaps and approaches to elucidate the withanolides biosynthesis in W. somnifera.
期刊介绍:
Current Opinion in Plant Biology builds on Elsevier's reputation for excellence in scientific publishing and long-standing commitment to communicating high quality reproducible research. It is part of the Current Opinion and Research (CO+RE) suite of journals. All CO+RE journals leverage the Current Opinion legacy - of editorial excellence, high-impact, and global reach - to ensure they are a widely read resource that is integral to scientists' workflow.