HMGR, SQS, β-AS, and Cytochrome P450 Monooxygenase Genes in Glycyrrhiza uralensis

Glycyrrhiza uralensis is frequently used in traditional Chinese medicine. This plant contains a large amount of effective constituents, including triterpenoids and flavonoids. Among them, glycyrrhizin is believed to be the marker compound to evaluate the quality of G. uralensis based on Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Many studies showed that glycyrrhizin possesses various pharmacological activities, such as antibacterial, antiviral, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and immune-stimulating activities. In this paper, we summarized the cloning, characterization, expression, and polymorphism analysis of several functional genes involved in glycyrrhizin biosynthesis in G. uralensis.