Camptothecin:a biosynthetic pathway with associated enzymes and genes

Camptothecin is a monoterpene indole alkaloid found in Camptotheca acuminata,which is native to China.After the discovery taxol as an anti-cancer agent,C.acuminata became a favored plant-based an ti-cancer medicine with exceptional market prospects.Due to a lack of Camptotheca trees and the high demand of camptothecin,metabolic engineering has been employed to improve camptothecin yield.Thus,the biosynthetic pathway of camptothecin is being studied.Based on the literature,the camptothecin biosynthetic pathway can be divided into upper and lower pathways with strictosidine as the dividing line.In this paper the biosyntheses of many intermediate products in the pathway,including related enzymes and genes,are discussed in detail.Possible methods for regulating camptothecin biosynthesis along with key is-sues for future studies are also mentioned.[Ch,3 fig.1 tab.29 ref.]