Plants produce myriad aroma compounds—odorous molecules that are key factors in countless aspects of the plant's life cycle, including pollinator attraction and communication within and between plants. For humans, aroma compounds convey accurate information on food type, and are vital for assessing the environment. The phenylpropanoid pathway is the origin of notable aroma compounds, such as raspberry ketone and vanillin. In the last decade, great strides have been made in elucidating this pathway with the identification of numerous aroma-related biosynthetic enzymes and factors regulating metabolic shunts. These scientific achievements, together with public acknowledgment of aroma compounds' medicinal benefits and growing consumer demand for natural products, are driving the development of novel biological sources for wide-scale, eco-friendly, and inexpensive production. Microbes and plants that are readily amenable to metabolic engineering are garnering attention as suitable platforms for achieving this goal. In this review, we discuss the importance of aroma compounds from the perspectives of humans, pollinators and plant–plant interactions. Focusing on vanillin and raspberry ketone, which are of high interest to the industry, we present key knowledge on the biosynthesis and regulation of phenylalanine-derived aroma compounds, describe advances in the adoption of microbes and plants as platforms for their production, and propose routes for improvement.

中文翻译：

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未来的气息：苯丙氨酸衍生的芳香化合物的功能及其工业生产的进展

植物产生无数的芳香化合物——有气味的分子，它们是植物生命周期无数方面的关键因素，包括授粉媒介的吸引力以及植物内部和植物之间的交流。对于人类来说，香气化合物可以传达有关食物类型的准确信息，对于评估环境至关重要。苯丙素途径是著名香气化合物的起源，例如覆盆子酮和香草醛。在过去的十年中，通过鉴定许多与香气相关的生物合成酶和调节代谢分流的因子，在阐明这一途径方面取得了长足的进步。这些科学成就，加上公众对芳香化合物药用价值的认可以及消费者对天然产品不断增长的需求，正在推动新型生物来源的开发，以实现大规模、环保且廉价的生产。易于进行代谢工程的微生物和植物作为实现这一目标的合适平台而受到关注。在这篇综述中，我们从人类、传粉者和植物间相互作用的角度讨论了芳香化合物的重要性。我们重点关注业界高度关注的香兰素和覆盆子酮，介绍苯丙氨酸衍生芳香化合物的生物合成和调控的关键知识，描述采用微生物和植物作为生产平台的进展，并提出路线建议以便改进。