查看更多>>摘要:Objective:The study of phytometabolites of medicinal plants and their phylogenetic distribution is an important content of pharmacophylogeny.The objectives of this study were to provide an updated esti-mate of the extent to which the medicinal plants were investigated phytochemically and relate this to the species-level phylogeny and their geographical pattern.Methods:Here,we further characterized 1 648 phytometabolites,including terpenoids,steroids,flavo-noids,phenylpropanoids,phenolics,alkaloids,etc.,reported in journals Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs(Zhong Cao Yao)and Chinese Herbal Medicines(CHM)from the phylogenetic and spatial perspec-tives.According to the structural characteristics,terpenoids,flavonoids,alkaloids and phenylpropanoids were subdivided into subclasses,and the research effort of phytometabolites was for the first time delin-eated at both subclass and phylogenetic levels.Results:The phytometabolites of 90 families were reported on two journals in three years.It is noted that terpenoids with diverse bioactivities still constitute the primary object of phytochemical research,fol-lowed by flavonoids,phenolics,phenylpropanoids and alkaloids.Among the reported species,the family Asteraceae had the most,followed by Lamiaceae,Fabaceae,and Ranunculaceae.In the phylogenetic dis-tribution of the reported phytometabolites,the net relatedness index(NRI)results revealed a clustered structure for triterpene,iridoid,flavone,flavonol,coumarin,indole alkaloid and terpenoid alkaloid,while the nearest taxon index(NTI)metric identified the clustered structure for triterpene,sesquiterpene,indole alkaloid and terpenoid alkaloid.Especially in Ranunculaceae,there were more reports on triter-pene and terpenoid alkaloid subclasses.The overdispersion pattern of diterpene and phenolic was sug-gested by NRI and NTI respectively,albeit more reported diterpenes and phenolics were in Lamiaceae.The geographical distribution hotspots of reported species and compounds thereof highlighted the enor-mous progress of herbal medicine research and industry,which play a positive role in the future drug dis-covery and development.Conclusion:These results provide new dimensions and perspectives in the context of pharmacophy-logeny for perceiving and evaluating research trends and flashpoints in medicinal phytochemistry.