Hypericum perforatum L. commonly known as Saint John’s Wort (SJW), is an important medicinal plant that has been used for more than 2000 years. Although H. perforatum produces several bioactive compounds, its importance is mainly linked to two molecules highly relevant for the pharmaceutical industry: the prenylated phloroglucinol hyperforin and the naphtodianthrone hypericin. The first functions as a natural antidepressant while the second is regarded as a powerful anticancer drug and as a useful compound for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. While the antidepressant activity of SJW extracts motivate a multi-billion dollar industry around the world, the scientific interest centers around the biosynthetic pathways of hyperforin and hypericin and their medical applications. Here, we focus on what is known about these processes and evaluate the possibilities of combining state of the art omics, genome editing, and synthetic biology to unlock applications that would be of great value for the pharmaceutical and medical industries.

中文翻译：

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欧洲最大的药用作物之一贯叶连翘生物活性化合物生物合成的生化和遗传基础


金丝桃 (Hypericum perforatum L.) 俗称圣约翰草 (SJW)，是一种重要的药用植物，已有 2000 多年的使用历史。尽管贯叶连翘产生多种生物活性化合物，但其重要性主要与与制药工业高度相关的两种分子有关：异戊二烯化间苯三酚金丝桃素和萘二蒽酮金丝桃素。第一种是天然的抗抑郁药，第二种被认为是一种强大的抗癌药物，并且是治疗阿尔茨海默病的有用化合物。虽然 SJW 提取物的抗抑郁活性推动了全球价值数十亿美元的产业，但科学兴趣集中在金丝桃素和金丝桃素的生物合成途径及其医疗应用。在这里，我们重点关注这些过程的已知信息，并评估结合最先进的组学、基因组编辑和合成生物学来解锁对制药和医疗行业具有巨大价值的应用的可能性。