Medicinal Plant Research 2025, Vol.15, No.6, 264-273 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/mpr 269 5.4 Applications of single-cell and spatial omics in tissue-specific biosynthesis Single-cell and spatial omics approaches are so far barely applied to A. sinensis, but the few current transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses at tissue levels-giving priority to heads, bodies, and tails-offer spatial resolution of the biosynthetic activity. Such studies have identified that some tissues are specialized in the production of some phenylpropanoids, hence the value of single-cell and spatial omics for finer mapping in the future (Xu et al., 2019). 5.5 Multi-omics integration for pathway modeling and prediction of new metabolic nodes It enables the identification of expanded gene families, regulatory modules, and candidate metabolic genes through the integration of genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic data. This kind of systems approach has revealed novel biosynthetic nodes, including expanded prenyltransferases and O-methyltransferases, and allows pathway modeling for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology applications (Li et al., 2023). Multi-omics integration would be necessary for the prediction of regulatory interactions that may guide the discovery of new bioactive compounds. 6 Metabolic Engineering and Synthetic Biology in Phenylpropanoid Production 6.1 Gene overexpression, RNA interference, and CRISPR/Cas9 technologies Gene overexpression and RNA interference (RNAi) remain foundational for the modulation of phenylpropanoid pathways. The recent development of CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/dCas9 has, therefore, given rise to highly specific genome editing and transcriptional regulation, such as DNA-free editing and multiplexed gene control. Application to key pathway genes including 4CL has thus far demonstrated successful targeted mutagenesis and pathway modification in both plants and microbes (Badhan et al., 2021; Karlson et al., 2021; Rai et al., 2025). 6.2 Heterologous expression systems for biofactory construction Yeast and microbial platforms are two of the most common hosts used for heterologous expression of phenylpropanoid biosynthetic genes. Recently, modular approaches to synthetic biology have allowed the rapid assembly of multigene pathways that produce compounds such as coumaric acid and naringenin from simple feedstocks. These systems can be scaled up and optimized for industrial production (Ramzi et al., 2018; Mejía-Manzano et al., 2023; Akinola et al., 2024). 6.3 Pathway optimization strategies Optimization strategies include enzyme engineering, metabolic flux regulation, and forming multi-enzyme complexes. CRISPRi and similar techniques can achieve multiplexed repression of genes, increasing product titers through fine-tuning metabolic pathways. Engineering side reactions and balancing redox reactions further improved yields in the strains engineered by Lehka et al. (2016) and Harvey et al. (2018). 6.4 Synthetic biology-driven high-yield strain development These high-yielding engineered strains were developed using systems biology, combinatorial pathway design, and advanced vector methods. These approaches make possible the integration of multiple pathway genes and their proper expression balance for the efficient biosynthesis of target phenylpropanoids (Mejía-Manzano et al., 2023; Akinola et al., 2024). 6.5 Industrial production potential and bottlenecks While most of the processes are now within an industrially feasible production scale, several issues caused by enzyme promiscuity and toxicity of intermediates are still present; regulatory problems with GMOs also arise. Further engineering of the strain and process optimization are required for innovations beyond such bottlenecks to reach their commercial viability (Akinola et al., 2024). 7 Application Prospects of Phenylpropanoid Compounds fromAngelica sinensis 7.1 Enhancement of medicinal value and identification of quality markers The main active pharmaceutical ingredients contributing to the medicinal efficacy of A. sinensis are phenylpropanoids, such as ferulic acid. An integrated approach of chemical and transcriptomic investigations
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