Molecular Biology and Metabolic Engineering of the Indole Pathway in Catharanthus roseus(L.) G.Don

Catharanthus roseus is the only source for the powerful antitumor drugs of vinblastine and vincristine,it also contains some other pharmaceutical compounds.Althrough C.roseus has been studied extensively,many details of its alkaloid pathway are still unknown.In this paper,the research advances in C.roseus were reviewed,the indole alkaloid biosynthetic pathways of C.roseus,including shikimic acid pathway and terpenoid pathway,were expounded in details,the enzymes and genes involved in the indole alkaloid biosynthesis were introduced.Finally,the recent research progress of periwinkle TIAs combined with metabolic engineering strategy was summarized.The study aims to offer reference for the follow-up studies on the terpenoids indoles alkaloid of C.roseus.