Medicinal Plant Research 2025, Vol.15, No.2, 51-61 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/mpr 51 Research Insight Open Access Research Insight into Enhancing Triterpenoid Content through Genetic Modification inGanoderma lucidum Baofu Huang, Guangman Xu Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China Corresponding author: guangman.xu@cuixi.org Medicinal Plant Research, 2025, Vol.15, No.2 doi: 10.5376/mpr.2025.15.0006 Received: 15 Dec., 2024 Accepted: 20 Jan., 2025 Published: 10 Mar., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Huang and Xu, 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., and Xu G.M., 2025, Research insight into enhancing triterpenoid content through genetic modification in Ganoderma lucidum, Medicinal Plant Research, 15(2): 51-61 (doi: 10.5376/mpr.2025.15.0006) Abstract Ganoderma lucidumhas been widely studied and applied due to its high medicinal value. Its triterpenoid compounds are one of the main active ingredients. But, it is not easy to stably increase the triterpenoid content using traditional cultivation methods, which is a common bottleneck in the industrialization process. In order to solve this problem, many studies have begun to focus on gene-level regulation. For example, using new gene editing technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9, the key genes responsible for triterpenoid synthesis in G. lucidumcan be accurately regulated. At the same time, transcription factors such as GlbHLH5 have also been shown to promote triterpenoid synthesis, indicating that the content can be increased from multiple links. Overall, this type of genetic improvement method has indeed opened up a new situation, which is expected to increase triterpenoid production and provide a more stable source of raw materials for the development of functional foods and medicinal products of G. lucidum. Keywords Ganoderma lucidum; Triterpenoids; Gene editing; Transcription factors; Functional foods; Medicinal value 1 Introduction In traditional Chinese medicine, Ganoderma lucidumis a highly valuable medicinal mushroom. People value it not only for its tonic effects, but also for the various active ingredients it contains. The most noteworthy of these are triterpenoids, such as ganoderic acid, ganoderic acid, and ganoderic acid, which have been shown to have multiple pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-tumor (Ahmad et al., 2021a; b; Sheikha, 2022). It is precisely because of the presence of these triterpenes that G. lucidumhas changed from a traditional medicinal material to a hot target in modern nutritional products and drug development, and has received continuous attention from the scientific research community. Wang et al. (2015) mentioned that triterpenoids can inhibit the activity of some key enzymes, such as neuraminidase and HIV protease, which may be one of the reasons why they have antiviral ability. In terms of immunomodulation and anti-cancer, this type of compound also shows considerable potential. However, the content of triterpenoids in G. lucidumhas always been an important factor limiting the efficacy of the drug. Once the content can be further increased, it will not only be more effective in treating diseases such as viral infections or cancer, but will also have more advantages in anti-inflammatory applications. Sheikha (2022) also pointed out that the improvement of this type of compound also means that the value of functional foods and nutritional products will increase accordingly, thereby driving the medicinal and commercial development of G. lucidumto a further level. The potential of triterpenoids should not be underestimated, but it is not easy to stably increase their content in G. lucidum. The problem lies in multiple levels. On the one hand, the synthesis process of triterpenes is complex, which is regulated by genes and easily disturbed by the external environment. Traditional cultivation methods often make it difficult to control these variables, resulting in large fluctuations in yield and composition (Hennicke et al., 2016). On the other hand, the classification of G. lucidumvarieties is not clear enough. Some strains with high triterpenoid production may be mixed in populations with "similar names", which brings troubles to strain screening and standardization. The key to solving these problems is to figure out the genetic pathway of triterpenoid synthesis and establish a stable and reliable strain identification and cultivation system.
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