Plant Gene and Trait 2025, Vol.16, No.5, 225-233 http://genbreedpublisher.com/index.php/pgt 225 Review and Progress Open Access Harnessing Synthetic Biology for Functional Metabolite Enhancement in Panax ginseng Baofu Huang, Yuhong Huang, Lianming Zhang Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China Corresponding email: lianming.zhang@cuixi.org Plant Gene and Trait, 2025, Vol.16, No.5 doi: 10.5376/pgt.2025.16.0024 Received: 14 Sep., 2025 Accepted: 17 Oct., 2025 Published: 27 Oct., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Huang et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Huang B.F., Huang Y.H., and Zhang L.M., 2025, Harnessing synthetic biology for functional metabolite enhancement in Panax ginseng, Plant Gene and Trait, 16(5): 225-233 (doi: 10.5376/pgt.2025.16.0024) Abstract This study summarizes the new progress in ginseng metabolism research in recent years, including the analysis of metabolic pathways, the mining of functional genes, and the application of multi-omics in metabolic regulation. It introduces several commonly used methods, such as CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, metabolic pathway modification, protein engineering, and fermentation condition optimization. These methods not only increased the yield of natural metabolites but also helped create some new derivatives. This study also discussed the current difficulties, such as the complexity of metabolic pathways, insufficient genetic resources, and the challenges when the achievements are industrialized. This study aims to provide ideas and practical references for the molecular improvement and industrial application of ginseng. Keywords Ginseng (Panax ginseng); Synthetic biology; Functional metabolites; Ginsenoside; Metabolic engineering 1 Introduction Ginseng (Panax ginseng) has long been known as the “King of Herbs” and has a long history of application in traditional East Asian medicine. Its root is the main medicinal part and is widely used to enhance immunity, delay aging, fight cancer, and improve cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, etc. A large number of basic and clinical studies have confirmed these efficacy (Park et al., 2021). However, due to the scarcity and unsustainability of wild ginseng, artificial cultivation and modern biotechnology have become the main ways to guarantee the medicinal value and industrial development of ginseng (Xu et al., 2023). The medicinal effects of ginseng mainly come from a variety of active metabolites, including ginsenosides, polysaccharides and polyphenols. Among them, ginsenosides are the most representative, having anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, neuroprotective and metabolic regulating effects (De Oliveira Zanuso et al., 2022). Polysaccharides have been found to have significant immunomodulatory and anti-tumor effects (Song et al., 2018). Polyphenols have attracted attention due to their antioxidant and cardiovascular protective functions (Park et al., 2021). The content and composition of these metabolites not only determine the medicinal value of ginseng, but also directly affect its application potential in fields such as food, health products and medicines (Eom et al., 2018; Xu et al., 2023). This study summarizes the biosynthetic pathways and regulatory mechanisms of the main functional metabolites of ginseng, introduces the latest progress of synthetic biology in increasing the content of active components such as ginsenosides, polysaccharides and polyphenols, and also discusses the opportunities and challenges for achieving efficient production of active metabolites of ginseng through genetic engineering, metabolic engineering and smart agriculture in the future. This research aims to provide theoretical support and technical references for the molecular improvement and industrial utilization of active components in ginseng. 2 Functional Metabolites in P. ginseng 2.1 Ginsenosides: diversity, biosynthetic pathways, and pharmacological significance Ginsenosides are the most studied and important active components in ginseng and belong to the triterpenoid saponins. More than one hundred monomers have been identified so far, mainly divided into two types: dammarane type (including protopanaxadiol-type PPD and protopanaxatriol-type PPT) and oleanane type (Jiang
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