植物咖啡酸-O-甲基转移酶的研究进展

Advances in plant caffeic acid-O-methyltransferase

摘要:

单木质素醇（H型、G型和S型）是构成植物木质素和木脂素的基本单元，其组成的不同直接决定木质素和木脂素的化学多样性和生物活性差异。咖啡酸-O-甲基转移酶（caffeic acid O-methyltransferase，COMT）可催化苯丙素类化合物羟基上氧原子的甲基化，在不同类型单木质素醇的构成中起决定作用，是木质素和木脂素生物合成途径的关键酶。2010年的相关综述主要对COMT的基因特征和在木质素生物合成中的调控作用作了介绍，文中聚焦了近十多年来COMT的最新研究进展，从基因特征、表达特征、结构特征和调控作用几个方面进行全面综述，并对COMT的研究和应用前景进行展望。

Abstract:

Monolignin alcohols (type H, type G and type S) are the basic units of lignin and lignans in plants, and their composition differences directly determine the chemical diversity and biological activity of lignin and lignans. Caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (COMT) catalyzes the methylation of oxygen atoms on the hydroxyl groups of phenylpropanoids, playing a critical role in the composition of different types of monolignin alcohols, and thus acting as a key enzyme involved in the biosynthesis pathway of lignin and lignans. A previous review published in 2010 mainly introduced the gene characteristics of COMT and its regulatory role in lignin biosynthesis. This article summarized the latest research progress of COMT in the past decade, including the gene characteristics, expression characteristics, structural characteristics of COMT and its regulatory effects, and prospected future research and application of COMT.