智能化微生物合成水杨酸的研究进展

Research progress in intelligent driving of salicylic acid biosynthesis

摘要:

水杨酸(salicylic acid, SA)是一种重要的酚类化合物，在植物防御反应中发挥核心作用，并因其具有显著的抗炎、抗菌等生物活性而被广泛应用于医药、化妆品及日用化学品领域。目前，水杨酸的生产主要依赖植物提取和化学合成法，存在过程繁琐、环境污染严重以及对石化原料依赖性高等问题。随着合成生物学、代谢工程和人工智能技术的快速发展，利用机器学习算法辅助设计、自动化平台驱动迭代的智能化微生物细胞工厂实现水杨酸的绿色合成已成为替代传统生产方式的重要研究方向。本文系统综述了水杨酸的微生物合成路径，以“智能化”设计为主线，重点总结了在人工智能与合成生物学工具的驱动下天然产水杨酸微生物资源的发掘与利用、在模式微生物中理性重构与优化水杨酸合成途径的智能代谢工程策略、提升产量的关键智能化技术及其面临的挑战，并对该领域的未来发展趋势进行了展望。

Abstract:

Salicylic acid (SA) is an important phenolic compound that plays a key role in plant defenses and is widely used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and personal care products due to its significant anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. Currently, the production of SA mainly relies on plant extraction and chemical synthesis, which suffers from complex processes, severe environmental pollution, and high dependence on petrochemical resources. With the rapid development of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, the green synthesis of SA through intelligently designed microbial cell factories, empowered by machine learning algorithms and automated platforms, has become an important research direction to replace conventional production methods. This review systematically summarizes the microbial biosynthetic pathways of SA. With a focus on the intelligent design theme, this paper highlights the application of AI and synthetic biology tools in the discovery and utilization of natural SA-producing microbial resources and the rational reconstruction and optimization of the SA biosynthetic pathway in model microorganisms via intelligent metabolic engineering strategies. Furthermore, it introduces the key intelligent technologies for enhancing yields and the challenges faced. Finally, it discusses the future trends in this field.