Application study of biotechnology in Artemisia annual / 中国中药杂志

ABSTRACT

Artemisinin is a kind of effective antimalarial drug being extracted from Artemisia annual, in which the artemisinin concentration is very low. So increasing artemisinin concentration is a hotspot in the research field, and it will be possible that biotechnology is applied to the study of Artemisia annual. It involved the following three aspects. First, DNA molecular marker assisted breeding. The genetic diversity of Artemisia germplasm was analyzed by the molecular maker, which provided the molecular biology basis for accelerating the breeding time of fine varieties with high artemisinin concentration. Second, artemisinin concentration was increased by genetic engineering. By transgenic technology overexpressing the key genes in artemisinin biosynthesis directly promoted the accumulating of artemisinin; inhibiting the expression of the gene, which competed with the genes in artemisinin biosynthesis for reduction substrate, indirectly increased the artemisinin concentration. Third, through synthetic biology method artemisinin precursor or artemisinin was produced in the host.