Plant diterpenoid metabolism for manufacturing the biopharmaceuticals of tomorrow: prospects and challenges

Plant diterpenoids encompass a diverse group of more than ten thousand specialized (traditionally termed ‘secondary’) metabolites with significant ecological functions and industrial uses. bioactive diterpenoids form an important source of bio-based pharmaceuticals, as exemplified by the approved anti-cancer drugs paclitaxel and ingenol mebutate. advanced genomics, metabolomics and enzyme discovery technologies have spawned a new era of exploring traditional medicinal plants for novel or improved therapeutics. across the plant kingdom numerous diterpene synthase and cytochrome p450 enzymes with key roles in generating diterpenoid chemical diversity have been identified in recent years. this catalog of enzyme catalysts and a deeper knowledge of specialized diterpenoid metabolism can now be applied to modern microbial and photosynthetic production systems, offering alternative avenues for the sustainable manufacture of plant-based medicines important to humanity.