Biosynthetic pathways and related genes regulation of bioactive ingredients in mulberry leaves

ABSTRACT

Mulberry leaves are served not only as fodder for silkworms but also as potential functional food, exhibiting nutritional and medical benefits due to the complex and diverse constituents, including alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and benzofurans, which possess a wide range of biological activities, such as anti-diabete, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and so on. Nevertheless, compared with the well-studied phytochemistry and pharmacology of mulberry leaves, the current understanding of the biosynthesis mechanisms and regulatory mechanisms of active ingredients in mulberry leaves remain unclear. Natural resources of these active ingredients are limited owing to their low contents in mulberry leaves tissues and the long growth cycle of mulberry. Biosynthesis is emerging as an alternative means for accumulation of the desired high-value compounds, which can broaden channels for their large-scale green productions. Therefore, this review summarizes the recent research advance on the correlative key genes, enzyme biocatalytic reactions and biosynthetic pathways of valuable natural ingredients (i.e. alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and benzofurans) in mulberry leaves, thereby offering important insights for their further biomanufacturing.

KEYWORDS:

• Mulberry leaves
• active ingredients
• secondary metabolism regulation
• biosynthetic pathways
• genes

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the reviewers, editors for their comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. 82104391), Key Research and Development Program of Shandong Province (NO. 2019GSF108001), Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (NO. ZR2016HQ49); The Taishan Scholar Program of Shandong Province (NO. tsqn202211360); TCM Science and Technology Development Project of Shandong Province (NO. 2015-164); Special Funds Scientific Research Projects of Shandong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital (NO. YJKY2022-021).