Research progress on cannabinoids in Cannabis sativa and their biosynthetic pathways related genes
Cannabis sativa is a medicinal plant and cash crop with a long history,which is used in many fields such as medicine,food and cosmetics.Cannabinoids are the main active components of Cannabis sativa.According to the structural characteristics,cannabinoids can be divided into 11 types,including tetrahydrocannabinol(Δ9-THC),cannabinol(CBD),cannabis chromene(CBC),cannabinol terpenol(CBG)and so on.The synthetic pathway of cannabinoids consists of three steps:polyketone synthesis,MEP pathway and oxidative cyclization,which are regulated by many enzymes and related enzyme genes,such as THCA synthase(THCAS),CBDA synthase(CBDAS),CBCA synthase(CBCAS),CBGA synthase(CBGAS),Olivetolic acid cyclase(OAC),olive alcohol synthase(OLS),acyl activating enzyme(AAE)and so on.The research progress of the several major cannabinoid components,functions,biosynthetic pathways and key enzyme genes encoding biosynthetic pathways in Cannabis sativa were reviewed,in order to provide reference for speeding up the related research of cannabinoids in our country and cultivating new varieties of Cannabis sativa.