Research advances on molecular regulation of filamentous fungal secondary metabolism in China

Abstract

More than half of the activity secondary metabolites from microorganisms are produced by filamentous fungi. The metabolites that are well known include penicillin, cyclosporine A, lovastatin, and so on. Due to their importance in agriculture, medicine and industry, biosynthesis and regulation of these fungal secondary metabolites have attracted much attention. The biosynthesis of fungal secondary metabolites is a complex process which generally includes multistep enzymatic reactions. Commonly, the process is controlled by elaborate regulations at different levels. A good understanding of the molecular regulation of fungal secondary metabolism will lay a theoretical foundation for improving metabolite production, mining novel compounds and activating the silent gene clusters. In this review, we focus on molecular regulation of filamentous fungal secondary metabolite biosynthesis, especially the research advances of Chinese scientists in recent forty years are mainlyintroduced. Finally, we propose the future challenges and opportunities in this field.