Research Advances in Oxidosqualene Cyclase in Plants

Triterpenes are natural products of plants that can defend against microorganisms and various stresses. Oxidosqualene cyclase (OSC), the key rate-limiting enzyme triterpene biosynthetic pathway, catalyzes 2,3-oxidosqualene into sterols triterpenes with different skeletons through chair–boat–chair (CBC) conformation or chair–chair–chair (CCC) conformation. They were expanded in mainly by tandem duplication distributed many plant lineages. have multiple biological activities, including as functional foods drugs. Here, we summarize current characterized forest OSCs their potential functions, especially for pharmacological applications. The study triterpene-catalyzed OSC has an important scientific role economic value. This paper summarizes research advances main members family plants, structure function, biosynthesis triterpenes, molecular evolution OSC.