脂肽类生物表面活性剂由亲水的寡肽和疏水的长链脂肪酸两部分组成,根据其结构特征,可将其分为环状脂肽和线性脂肽两大类。芽孢杆菌合成的环状脂肽主要包含芬芥素、表面活性素和伊枯草菌素三大家族,其中芬芥素表现出显著的抑菌活性,在植物病虫害防治方面具有良好的应用前景。综述了芬芥素的基本结构、合成机理、抑菌性能以及生物合成强化的研究进展,旨在为芬芥素的合成与应用研究提供参考。
Lipopeptide biosurfactants are small compounds synthesized by various microorganisms as secondary metabolites. The common molecules of such biosurfactants contain both fatty acid chains as the hydrophobic portion and cyclic peptides as the hydrophilic moieties. Due to the amphipathic structures, lipopeptides present promising properties like surface activity and anti-microbial activities and therefore can be applied in chemical, agricultural, pharmaceutical and food industries. Lipopeptide biosurfactants produced by the most studied Bacillus are mainly divided into three families according to the structure of cyclic peptides: surfactin, fengycin and iturin. Surfactins presents outstanding surface activity by significantly reducing the surface tension of water while fengycins and iturins show strong anti-fungal antibiotic activity. Although less known as other lipopeptide biosurfactants, fengycins are well recognized as potential bio-fungicides based on current researches. In this review, the basic structure, synthesis mechanism and fungitoxic activity of fengycins were introduced. Moreover, strategies and current progress on biosynthesis reinforcement were also discussed for further studies.