RESUMO
It is well established that plants as sessile organisms, are constantly threatened by various biotic and abiotic stresses in the living environment. So, during the long evolutionary process, sessile plants have to integrate a wide variety of environmental cues into their developmental programme to prioritize adaptive morphogenesis and metabolic pathways precise control. Previous studies have shown that the phenylpropane metabolic pathway is one of the important secondary metabolic pathways in plants, and the metabolites via phenylpropane metabolism, such as lignin, sporopollen, anthocyanin and organic acids, play an important role in the regulation of plant adaptive growth. In medicinal plants, the phenylpropane metabolic pathway is closely related to the synthesis of many medicinal active ingredients. Almost all natural medicinal molecules containing phenylpropane skeleton are synthesized directly or indirectly through this metabolic pathway, for example flavonoids, terpenoids, phenols, etc. In addition, some secondary metabolites biosynthesized through phenylpropane metabolic pathway can be secreted from the plant root system into the peripheral soil to affect plant growth and ability of abiotic and biotic stress resist, by changing the microbial ecology of plant root system. Meanwhile, this phenylpropane-mediated plant-microbe interaction can also affect the genuine characters of the medicinal plants. In this paper, we summarize the latest research progress of plant phenylpropane metabolic pathway, especially the physiological functions and expression regulation mechanism of the products of phenylpropane metabolic pathway are introduced. We aim to provide guidance for further understanding of the potential relationship between the quality of medicinal plants and plant phenylpropane metabolic pathway, in the end to direct excellent Chinese herbal medicine breeding, then to further promote the vigorous development of Chinese medicine in China.