中文摘要：

三萜皂苷是由三萜苷元、糖基、糖醛酸等组成的C30萜类化合物,是许多药用植物的主要活性成分,具有广泛的药理作用.三萜皂苷的生物合成包括前体和三萜皂苷骨架的形成以及调控皂苷结构多样性的后修饰.三萜皂苷的后修饰包括三萜骨架的氧化/羟基化和糖基化,分别由不同超基因家族编码的细胞色素P450单加氧酶和糖基转移酶进行催化.三萜皂苷通过后修饰最终可形成多种单体皂苷.目前,已在少数植物中识别和确认了个别与三萜皂苷生物合成相关的关键后修饰酶,发现了部分很可能参与后修饰过程的候选基因.该文就近年来国内外有关三萜皂苷生物合成途径关键后修饰酶的研究进行综述,为进一步开展相关研究和对合成精细途径的解析提供参考.

英文摘要：

Triterpene saponins are glycosides of cyclic C30 terpenes which consist of triterpenoid sapo genins, sugar,and uronic acid. They are major active ingredients of many medicinal plants, with a range of pharmacological effects. The biosynthesis of triterpene saponins includes the formation of precursors and skeleton of triterpene saponins,as well as the post-modification that regulates the structure diversity. The post-modification of triterpene saponins mainly includes the oxidation/hydroxylation and glycosylation of triterpene skeleton, which are catalyzed by cytochrome P450 monooxygenase and glycosyltransferase, respectively. They are encoded by different supergene family. By means of post-modification, triterpene saponins can form a variety of monomer saponins in the end. Currently, several key post-modification enzymes which are relative to triterpene saponins biosynthesis have been identified and confirmed in a few plants, and a part of candidate genes that most likely involved in the post-modification process have been found. Studies on key post-modification enzymes in triterpenoid saponins biosynthesis were reviewed in this article,which provided a reference for further correlational research and analysis on fine synthesis pathway.