Bioscience Evidence 2025, Vol.15, No.6, 280-290 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/be 288 8.3 Standardization of cultivation and quality control Under different production areas and different planting conditions, the active components of Leonurus japonicus often vary greatly, which can affect the quality of the medicinal materials and also the clinical effects (Zhang et al., 2025). Most of the current quality control methods only measure one or a few components, such as leonurine or tribulus terrestris, lacking a systematic assessment approach that encompasses multiple components and indicators. Under different parts and storage methods, whether the active ingredients are stable and how they are related to the efficacy still need further study. Furthermore, standardized cultivation, harvesting, processing and quality evaluation systems have not been fully established yet, all of which have restricted the further development of the industry. In the future, it is necessary to enhance the systematic identification and functional verification of key genes, and combine multi-omics and gene editing technologies to more deeply analyze the regulatory networks of active ingredients. At the same time, further research should be conducted on the relationship between L. japonicus and environmental factors to clarify the ecological interaction mechanism, providing support for targeted cultivation and resource conservation. It is also necessary to establish more comprehensive quality control standards, including multi-index and multi-level assessment systems, and promote the standardization of cultivation, harvesting and processing, laying a foundation for the high-quality utilization and modern application of Leonurus japonicus as a medicinal material. 9 Conclusion The active ingredients of Leonurus japonicus are jointly affected by various physiological and ecological factors. In terms of physiology, key enzymes such as ADC, UGT, and SCPL, as well as their related gene clusters, if they undergo amplification or develop new functions, will directly promote the synthesis and accumulation of major components such as leonurine and tribulus terrestris. Meanwhile, under stress conditions such as drought, transcription factors like WRKY will be involved in regulating secondary metabolic pathways, thereby influencing the generation of these active substances. In terms of ecological environment, conditions such as precipitation, temperature, soil pH and moisture not only determine whether motherwort can grow in a certain area, but also affect the content and distribution pattern of active components. The differences in origin and environment can bring about genetic and metabolic changes, which in turn affect the quality of medicinal materials. The research on the metabolic pathways of the active components of Leonurus japonicus provides a foundation for molecular breeding, precise cultivation and medicinal development. High-quality genomic and multi-omics data enable researchers to identify key metabolic genes more quickly and verify their functions, and also provide clear targets for molecular marker-assisted breeding and gene editing. Clear metabolic pathways can also help us efficiently produce these components in heterologous systems such as yeast, alleviating the problem of insufficient natural sources. Meanwhile, these research achievements also provide reliable basis for the quality control of medicinal materials and the development of new drugs. Future research should continue to take systems biology as the main line, integrating multi-level data such as the genome, transcriptome, metabolome and phenome to more comprehensively analyze the regulatory network of active components. Combining ecological adaptability research with environmental simulation can promote more precise ecological cultivation and resource protection. Under the framework of systems biology, molecular breeding, synthetic biology and medicinal development can also develop in a better coordinated manner, helping to achieve high-quality and sustainable utilization of Leonurus japonicus as a medicinal material, and providing new directions for the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine and the research and development of new drugs. Acknowledgments We sincerely thank our supervisor, Professor Cai, for your meticulous guidance and selfless assistance throughout the research process
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