Abstract

Natural products from plants have served mankind in a wide range of applications, such as medicines, perfumes, or flavoring agents. For this reason, synthesis, regulation and function of plant-derived chemicals, as well as the evolution of metabolic diversity, has attracted researchers all around the world. In particular, vascular plants have been subject to such analyses due to prevalent characteristics such as appearance, fragrance, and ecological settings. In contrast, bryophytes, constituting the second largest group of plants in terms of species number, have been mostly overlooked in this regard, potentially due to their seemingly tiny, simple and obscure nature. However, the identification of highly interesting chemicals from bryophytes with potential for biotechnological exploitation is changing this perception. Bryophytes offer a high degree of biochemical complexity, as a consequence of their ecological and genetic diversification, which enable them to prosper in various, often very harsh habitats. The number of bioactive compounds isolated from bryophytes is growing rapidly. The rapidly increasing wealth of bryophyte genetics opens doors to functional and comparative genomics approaches, including disentangling of the biosynthesis of potentially interesting chemicals, mining for novel gene families and tracing the evolutionary history of metabolic pathways. Throughout the last decades, the moss Physcomitrella (Physcomitrium patens) has moved from being a model plant together with Marchantia polymorpha in fundamental biology into an attractive host for the production of biotechnologically relevant compounds such as biopharmaceuticals. In the future, bryophytes like the moss P. patens might also be attractive candidates for the production of novel bryophyte-derived chemicals of commercial interest. This review provides a comprehensive overview of natural product research in bryophytes from different perspectives together with biotechnological advances throughout the last decade.

摘要

来自植物的天然产物在广泛的应用中为人类服务，例如药物、香水或调味剂。出于这个原因，植物来源化学物质的合成、调节和功能，以及代谢多样性的进化，吸引了世界各地的研究人员。特别是，维管植物因其外观、香味和生态环境等普遍特征而受到此类分析。相比之下，苔藓植物在物种数量方面是第二大植物群，在这方面却大多被忽视，这可能是由于它们看似微小、简单和晦涩的性质。然而，从苔藓植物中鉴定出具有生物技术开发潜力的非常有趣的化学物质正在改变这种看法。苔藓植物具有高度的生化复杂性，这是它们生态和遗传多样化的结果，使它们能够在各种通常非常恶劣的栖息地中繁衍生息。从苔藓植物中分离出的生物活性化合物的数量正在迅速增长。苔藓植物遗传学的迅速增长为功能和比较基因组学方法打开了大门，包括解开潜在有趣化学物质的生物合成、挖掘新基因家族和追踪代谢途径的进化历史。在过去的几十年里，苔藓 Physcomitrella ( 苔藓植物遗传学的迅速增加为功能和比较基因组学方法打开了大门，包括解开潜在有趣化学物质的生物合成、挖掘新基因家族和追踪代谢途径的进化历史。在过去的几十年里，苔藓 Physcomitrella ( 苔藓植物遗传学的迅速增长为功能和比较基因组学方法打开了大门，包括解开潜在有趣化学物质的生物合成、挖掘新基因家族和追踪代谢途径的进化历史。在过去的几十年里，苔藓 Physcomitrella (Physcomitrium patens)已经从基础生物学中与地钱一起成为模式植物转变为生产生物技术相关化合物（如生物药物）的有吸引力的宿主。将来，像苔藓P. patens这样的苔藓植物也可能成为生产具有商业价值的新型苔藓植物衍生化学品的有吸引力的候选者。这篇综述从不同的角度对苔藓植物的天然产物研究以及过去十年中的生物技术进步进行了全面概述。