Aromatic compounds are ubiquitous in nature; they are the building blocks of abundant lignin, and constitute a substantial proportion of synthetic chemicals and organic pollutants. Uptake and degradation of aromatic compounds by bacteria have relevance in bioremediation, bio-based plastic recycling, and microbial conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into high-value commodity chemicals. While remarkable progress has been achieved in understanding aromatic metabolism in biodegraders, the membrane transporter systems responsible for uptake and efflux of aromatic compounds and their degradation products are still poorly understood. Membrane transporters are responsible for the initial recognition, uptake, and efflux of aromatic compounds; thus, in addition to controlling influx and efflux, the transporter system also forms part of stress tolerance mechanisms through excreting toxic metabolites. This review discusses significant advancements in our understanding of the nature and identity of the bacterial membrane transporter systems for aromatics, the molecular and structural basis of substrate recognition, mechanisms of translocation, functional regulation, and biotechnological applications. Most of these developments were enabled through the availability of crystal structures, advancements in computational biophysics, genome sequencing, omics studies, bioinformatics, and synthetic biology. We provide a comprehensive overview of recently reported knowledge on aromatic transporter systems in bacteria, point gaps in our understanding of the underlying translocation mechanisms, highlight existing limitations in harnessing transporter systems in synthetic biology applications, and suggest future research directions.

芳香族化合物在自然界中无处不在；它们是丰富木质素的组成部分，在合成化学品和有机污染物中占很大比例。细菌对芳香族化合物的吸收和降解与生物修复、生物基塑料回收以及将木质纤维素生物质微生物转化为高价值商品化学品有关。虽然在了解生物降解剂中的芳香族代谢方面取得了显着进展，但对芳香族化合物及其降解产物的吸收和流出的膜转运系统仍知之甚少。膜转运蛋白负责芳香族化合物的初始识别、吸收和流出；因此，除了控制流入和流出，转运系统还通过排泄有毒代谢物形成应激耐受机制的一部分。这篇综述讨论了我们在理解芳香族细菌膜转运系统的性质和特性、底物识别的分子和结构基础、易位机制、功能调节和生物技术应用方面取得的重大进展。大多数这些发展是通过晶体结构的可用性、计算生物物理学、基因组测序、组学研究、生物信息学和合成生物学的进步而实现的。我们全面概述了最近报道的有关细菌中芳香族转运蛋白系统的知识，我们对潜在易位机制的理解存在点差距，