药用植物甾体生物碱的药理作用及合成途径

甾体生物碱是药用植物中广泛存在的一类代谢产物,是一类具有降压、止咳、平喘、抗肿瘤等生物活性的天然产物。目前,甾体生物碱的合成代谢途径、分离纯化、鉴别及生物学功能研究已成为国内外天然产物研究的热点之一。对药用植物甾体生物碱的药理作用进行了综述,并根据萜类物质合成途径,推测总结了甾体生物碱的合成相关途径和参与该途径的关键酶及其基因克隆的研究进展,以期为药用植物甾体生物碱的代谢途径与基因表达调控及应用研究提供参考。     

植物来源药用天然产物的合成生物学研究进展

大多数药用天然产物在植物中含量低微,提取分离困难;而且这些化合物一般结构复杂,化学合成难度大,还容易造成环境污染。基于合成生物学技术获得药用天然产物具有绿色环保和可持续发展等优点。文中以药用萜类化合物人参皂苷、紫杉醇、青蒿素、丹参酮,生物碱类化合物长春新碱、吗啡以及黄酮类化合物灯盏花素为例,总结了植物来源药用萜类、生物碱类和黄酮类化合物的生物合成途径及合成生物学研究进展,介绍了药用天然产物合成生物学研究的关键技术与方法,并展望了合成生物学技术在药用天然产物研究与开发方面的应用前景。     

生物碱的研究进展

生物碱是一类具有生理活性的物质,是许多药用植物的有效成分之一。如何从天然产物中提取、分离与鉴别生物碱引起了人们的广泛关注,其提取、分离与鉴别的方法也在不断的改进和发展中。本文综述了近年来不同的分类、提取、分离与鉴别方法在生物碱提取分离与鉴别中的应用与进展。随着人们对生物碱药用价值认识的提高以及研究与应用的深入,将会获得更加高效、迅速、完善的提取、分离与鉴别生物碱的方法。     

新型天然生物碱抗癌机制研究进展

生物碱作为一种具有极高生物活性的天然产物,在抗癌方面发挥着日益重要的作用。随着紫杉醇、长春新碱等生物碱的应用与投产,更多的新型生物碱被发现、研究。本文综述了近五年发现的新型天然生物碱,并从诱导细胞凋亡、调控细胞周期、增加活性氧、抑制DNA拓朴异构酶等方面阐述了生物碱的抗癌机制。     

海绵来源真菌天然产物的研究进展

随着海洋药物及其药物先导化合物研究的不断深入,海绵来源微生物,因其种类繁多、代谢产物复杂多样,引发了科研工作者的兴趣。许多化合结构新颖、具有强烈生物活性的化合物从海绵来源真菌中发现,包括多肽、生物碱、聚酮类、萜类等。本文仅就近几年来所报道的海绵来源真菌新天然产物的结构类型及其生物活性做简要介绍。     

微藻生物质产品和生物活性物质的研究与开发

本文综述了微藻在生物质产品及活性物质开发上的研究进展。部分微藻如节旋藻、小球藻、盐生杜氏藻和雨生红球藻等已用于商业化生产生物质产品。另外,从微藻中提炼的生物活性成分如β-胡萝卜素、虾青素、藻蓝蛋白、长链多不饱和脂肪酸和活性多糖等已应用于营养保健品和化妆品的生产。基于微藻种类的多样性和基因工程、代谢工程的快速发展,微藻天然产物具有很大的开发潜力。     

昆虫共生菌的次级代谢产物研究进展

微生物与昆虫的共生是一种普遍现象,昆虫种类繁多,与昆虫共生的微生物也多种多样。昆虫共生菌是活性次生代谢产物的重要来源。本文对自2008年以来已报道的177个昆虫共生菌的次级代谢产物进行了统计和分析,结果表明:61.6%的化合物为新天然产物(生物碱类新化合物最多),其中,约75%的新化合物来源于昆虫共生真菌,25%来源于细菌;醌酮类化合物是昆虫共生菌源天然产物的主要结构类型,占23.2%;47.5%的化合物具有显著的抗肿瘤、抗菌、除草和抗氧化等生物活性,且化合物中的主要活性类型是抗菌和抗肿瘤活性,活性范围覆盖面最广的结构类型是生物碱类。以上结果表明昆虫共生菌的次级代谢产物是先导性化合物的重要来源且具有丰富的生物活性类型。本文以天然产物的结构分类为切入点,结合其研究菌株来源、生物活性等进行综述,旨在为充分挖掘昆虫共生菌次级代谢产物提供重要参考。     

吡咯并[4,3,2-de]喹啉类天然产物的研究进展

吡咯并[4,3,2-de ]喹啉类生物碱是从蟾蜍以及海洋生物等中提取出来的次级代谢物,具有抗寄生虫、抗病毒、抗肿瘤等多种生物活 性,是一类有成药潜力的天然产物。综述部分吡咯并[4,3,2-de ]喹啉类天然产物的生物活性、生物合成以及化学合成的研究进展,并对其现 存问题和发展方向进行分析和展望。     

天然药物中抗HIV活性成分研究进展

天然产物往往具有独特的化学结构,是发现新药或药物先导物的重要途径之一.目前,从天然药物中发现了多种结构类型的具有抗HIV活性的化合物,如多糖类、生物碱类、香豆素类、黄酮类、木脂素类、醌类、酚酸类、萜类等,并且其作用机制并不局限于抑制逆转录酶或蛋白酶,可在HIV复制周期的各个环节发挥作用,本文按天然产物的结构类型进行归纳,综述了近年来源自天然药物的抗HIV活性成分研究进展,总结了的151个具有抗HIV活性的天然产物结构及其活性测试数据,以期为从天然化学成分中寻找、发现并研究开发有效的抗艾滋病药物提供线索.     

微藻两阶段培养技术研究进展

微藻细胞富含油脂、淀粉及其他高值代谢物,可用于食品、饲料、化学品和能源的生产。但在规模化培养中,微藻的高生长速率和高产物含量难以兼得,制约了其商业化应用。通过微藻的两阶段培养技术可以将生长和产物积累的时期分离,从而同时获得较高的微藻生物量和产物含量。该技术具有产品得率高、节能减排、适用范围广的优点,是推进微藻商业化的关键之一。本综述总结了现有微藻两阶段培养技术的优势和产品类型,解析了目前微藻两阶段培养技术的限制因素及发展前景,并提出微藻两阶段培养中存在阶段转换时间尚不明确、中间采收步骤成本高这两个限制该技术应用的关键瓶颈,从而为未来微藻两阶段培养技术规模化生产方案的科学决策与实施提供参考。     

利用絮凝进行微藻采收的研究进展

微藻可生产不饱和脂肪酸及色素等多种高附加值产品,同时也可用来生产可再生清洁能源如生物柴油等,具有良好的应用前景。但是,目前微藻细胞的采收成本高居不下,已成为限制微藻生物技术大规模应用的重要因素之一。与其他方法相比,絮凝采收成本低、操作简便,是很有应用前景的采收方法。本文综述了国内外利用化学絮凝、物理絮凝及生物絮凝等方法对不同微藻细胞进行采收的研究,重点对生物絮凝方法进行了总结。利用微生物絮凝剂及微藻细胞的自絮凝进行微藻生物量的回收,是微藻采收技术中环境友好、低成本和行之有效的新方法之一。     

Outdoor cultivation of microalgae for carotenoid production: current state and perspectives

Microalgae are a major natural source for a vast array of valuable compounds, including a diversity of pigments, for which these photosynthetic microorganisms represent an almost exclusive biological resource. Yellow, orange, and red carotenoids have an industrial use in food products and cosmetics as vitamin supplements and health food products and as feed additives for poultry, livestock, fish, and crustaceans. The growing worldwide market value of carotenoids is projected to reach over US$1,000 million by the end of the decade. The nutraceutical boom has also integrated carotenoids mainly on the claim of their proven antioxidant properties. Recently established benefits in human health open new uses for some carotenoids, especially lutein, an effective agent for the prevention and treatment of a variety of degenerative diseases. Consumers’ demand for natural products favors development of pigments from biological sources, thus increasing opportunities for microalgae. The biotechnology of microalgae has gained considerable progress and relevance in recent decades, with carotenoid production representing one of its most successful domains. In this paper, we review the most relevant features of microalgal biotechnology related to the production of different carotenoids outdoors, with a main focus on β-carotene from Dunaliella, astaxanthin from Haematococcus, and lutein from chlorophycean strains. We compare the current state of the corresponding production technologies, based on either open-pond systems or closed photobioreactors. The potential of scientific and technological advances for improvements in yield and reduction in production costs for carotenoids from microalgae is also discussed.     

Microalgae as sources of high added-value compounds--a brief review of recent work

Microalgae have found commercial applications as natural sources of valuable macromolecules, including carotenoids, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, and phycocolloids. As photoautotrophs, their simple growth requirements make them attractive for bioprocesses aimed at producing high added-value compounds that are in large demand by the pharmaceutical market. A few compounds synthesized by microalgae have indeed proven to possess anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, and antitumoral features; astaxanthin, a known antioxidant produced by Haematococcus pluvialis, is an illustrative example with important anti-inflammatory and antitumoral roles. From a chemical standpoint, several such compounds are polysaccharides or long chain fatty acids, where the latter can be either saturated or unsaturated. Additionally, their chemical structures are often atypical, whereas their concentrations can exceed those found in many other natural sources. The productivity and biochemical composition of microalgae depend strongly on the mode of cultivation, medium composition, and nutrient profile. Consequently, numerous efforts aimed at elucidating the practical impacts of the aforementioned parameters have been developed. This review accordingly covers the knowledge produced in the last two decades on the uses of microalgae to obtain physiologically active compounds, and on the optimization of the underlying production and purification processes. It also identifies major gaps and opportunities in this field that should be addressed or exploited in the near future.     

LC-PUFA from photosynthetic microalgae: occurrence, biosynthesis, and prospects in biotechnology

Microalgae offer potential for numerous commercial applications, among them the production of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs). These valuable fatty acids are important for a variety of nutraceutical and pharmaceutical purposes, and the market for these products is continually growing. An appropriate ratio of LC-PUFA of the ω-3 and ω-6 groups is vital for "healthy" nutrition, and adequate dietary intake has strong health benefits in humans. Microalgae of diverse classes are primary natural producers of LC-PUFA. This mini-review presents an introductory overview of LC-PUFA-related health benefits in humans, describes LC-PUFA occurrence in diverse microalgal classes, depicts the major pathways of their biosynthesis in microalgae, and discusses the prospects for microalgal LC-PUFA production.     

Microalgae in the postgenomic era: a blooming reservoir for new natural products

Bacteria, fungi, algae and higher plants are the most prolific producers of natural products (secondary metabolites). Compared to macroalgae, considerably fewer natural products have been isolated from microalgae, which offer the possibility of obtaining sufficient and well-defined biological material from laboratory cultures. Interest in microalgae is reinforced by large-scale data sets from genome sequencing projects and the development of genetic tools such as transformation protocols. This review highlights what is currently known about the biosynthesis and biological role of natural products in microalgae, with examples from isoprenoids, complex polyketides, nonribosomal peptides, polyunsaturated fatty acids and oxylipins, alkaloids, and aromatic secondary metabolites. In addition, we introduce a bioinformatic analysis of available genome sequences from totally 16 microalgae, belonging to the green and red algae, heterokonts and haptophytes. The results suggest that the biosynthetic potential of microalgae is underestimated and many microalgal natural products remain to be discovered.     

二氧化碳减排产柴油微藻培养体系研究进展

污水资源化、二氧化碳减排及微藻生物柴油是当前能源与环境领域的前沿课题。以下围绕污水及烟道气资源化培养产油微藻的培养体系,就藻种、营养条件、培养方式、培养环境及微藻生物反应器等影响产油微藻培养的因素研究进展进行了综述。在综述的基础上提出：由于微藻具有特殊营养方式,通过藻种筛选、微藻营养条件和培养环境的优化以及高效光生物反应器和生产工艺等的创新,可利用污水进行产油微藻生产,以获得生物柴油等高附加值产品,实现微藻生物能源、污水资源化处理和CO2减排三者高度耦合的产油微藻生产体系,从而减少微藻培养费用及污水处理费用,因此,该体系具有重要的环境、社会、经济价值和商业化应用前景。     

Perspectives on microalgal CO₂-emission mitigation systems--a review

The problem of climate change arising mainly from CO? emission is currently a critical environmental issue. Biofixation using microalgae has recently become an attractive approach to CO? capture and recycling with additional benefits of downstream utilization and applications of the resulting microalgal biomass. This review summarizes the history and strategies of microalgal mitigation of CO? emissions, photobioreactor systems used to cultivate microalgae for CO? fixation, current microalgae harvesting methods, as well as applications of valuable by-products. It is of importance to select appropriate microalgal species to achieve an efficient and economically feasible CO?-emission mitigation process. The desired microalgae species should have a high growth rate, high CO? fixation ability, low contamination risk, low operation cost, be easy to harvest and rich in valuable components in their biomass.     

Valuable products from biotechnology of microalgae

The biotechnology of microalgae has gained considerable importance in recent decades. Applications range from simple biomass production for food and feed to valuable products for ecological applications. For most of these applications, the market is still developing and the biotechnological use of microalgae will extend into new areas. Considering the enormous biodiversity of microalgae and recent developments in genetic engineering, this group of organisms represents one of the most promising sources for new products and applications. With the development of sophisticated culture and screening techniques, microalgal biotechnology can already meet the high demands of both the food and pharmaceutical industries.By continuing the works and ideas of Dr. Gross, that he could not proceed by himself due a tragic fate in the year 2003, we will keep his place in future not only in the research community but also among all colleagues and other persons who knew him.     

Dual purpose microalgae-bacteria-based systems that treat wastewater and produce biodiesel and chemical products within a Biorefinery

Excess greenhouse gas emissions and the concomitant effect on global warming have become significant environmental, social and economic threats. In this context, the development of renewable, carbon-neutral and economically feasible biofuels is a driving force for innovation worldwide. A lot of effort has been put into developing biodiesel from microalgae. However, there are still a number of technological, market and policy barriers that are serious obstacles to the economic feasibility and competitiveness of such biofuels. Conversely, there are also a number of business opportunities if the production of such alternative biofuel becomes part of a larger integrated system following the Biorefinery strategy. In this case, other biofuels and chemical products of high added value are produced, contributing to an overall enhancement of the economic viability of the whole integrated system. Additionally, dual purpose microalgae-bacteria-based systems for treating wastewater and production of biofuels and chemical products significantly contribute to a substantial saving in the overall cost of microalgae biomass production. These types of systems could help to improve the competitiveness of biodiesel production from microalgae, according to some recent Life Cycle Analysis studies. Furthermore, they do not compete for fresh water resources for agricultural purposes and add value to treating the wastewater itself. This work reviews the most recent and relevant information about these types of dual purpose systems. Several aspects related to the treatment of municipal and animal wastewater with simultaneous recovery of microalgae with potential for biodiesel production are discussed. The use of pre-treated waste or anaerobic effluents from digested waste as nutrient additives for weak wastewater is reviewed. Isolation and screening of microalgae/cyanobacteria or their consortia from various wastewater streams, and studies related to population dynamics in mixed cultures, are highlighted as very relevant fields of research. The species selection may depend on various factors, such as the biomass and lipid productivity of each strain, the characteristics of the wastewater, the original habitat of the strain and the climatic conditions in the treatment plant, among others. Some alternative technologies aimed at harvesting biomass at a low cost, such as cell immobilization, biofilm formation, flocculation and bio-flocculation, are also reviewed. Finally, a Biorefinery design is presented that integrates the treatment of municipal wastewater with the recovery of oleaginous microalgae, together with the use of seawater supplemented with anaerobically digested piggery waste for cultivating Arthrospira (Spirulina) and producing biogas, biodiesel, hydrogen and other high added value products. Such strategies offer new opportunities for the cost-effective and competitive production of biofuels along with valuable non-fuel products.     

湛江沿海海洋微藻及其多糖、脂类和蛋白藻株多样性研究

从硇洲岛和徐闻珊瑚礁自然保护区潮间带采集的海水和沉积物样品中分离培养海洋微藻, 筛选其中富含多糖、脂类或蛋白质的藻株。采用形态学观察、18S rDNA序列比较及其系统发育分析法, 对分离培养的海洋微藻及其富含多糖、脂类或蛋白质的藻株进行分类鉴定和生物多样性分析。分离、培养、鉴定并储藏了189株海洋微藻, 归属于65个种, 分布于硅藻门(Bacillariophyta)、绿藻门(Chlorophyta)、定鞭藻门(Haptophyta)和红藻门(Rhodophyta)的9纲、25目、30个科、38个属; 其中多糖含量较高的46株海洋微藻, 分布于25个种, 20个属; 脂类含量较高的46株海洋微藻, 分布于32个种, 15个属; 蛋白含量较高的46株海洋微藻, 分布于28个种, 18个属。结果表明硇洲岛和徐闻珊瑚礁自然保护区潮间带可培养的海洋微藻及其富含多糖、脂类和蛋白质藻株的物种多样性丰富, 在新型药物、活性天然产物、功能食品和饲料及其添加剂的发掘等方面具有良好前景。