REVIEW OF THE MOLECULAR GENETICS IN HIGHER PLANTS TOWARDS SALIDROSID AND CINNAMYL ALCOHOL GLYCOSIDES BIOSYNTHESIS IN RHODIOLA ROSEA L.

Rhodiola rosea L. (roseroot) has been categorized as an adaptogen and currently is one of the most studied medicinal plants for its enormous pharmaceutical significance and more reputably for its bioactive secondary metabolites, namely (rosin, rosavin, rosarin and salidroside). Roseroot is difficult to cultivate and develops very slowly in its natural environment, justifying development of new methods for production of its bioactive compounds. Different methods such as in vitro cell, tissue, and callus culture accompanied by some biotransformation trials have been carried out in the last two decades, but no feasible example has been developed for a large scale and industrial production of roseroot glycosides. To achieve a clear understanding of how to design any of roseroot in vitro culture systems to maximize the content of its specific natural products, the knowledge of a real biosynthetic pathway of these glycosides is necessary and indispensible. In this review article we are going to summarize the attainments and scientific results from molecular genetics of shikimate pathway in higher plants to give further clarification of salidroside and cinnamyl alcohol glycosides biosynthetic pathway. Considering all possibilities for these metabolites synthesis will help to think of alternative biotechnological methods for enhancing the biosynthesis of desired compounds in plants and more specifically in Rhodiola rosea L.