Abstract
Medicinal plants have provided numerous medicinal active ingredients for thousands of years and these ingredients have been used in Chinese medicine (CM) and traditional pharmacologies worldwide. Recently, the exploitation and utilisation of medicinal plant resources has increased significantly. The results of the studies have led to the identification of many active components, such as steroidal alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids, and glycosides, in various medicinal plants with different evolutionary levels. Moreover, research on the chemical classification, molecular phylogeny, and pharmacological activity of medicinal plants is increasing in popularity. Pharmacophylogeny is an interdisciplinary topic that studies the correlation between plant phylogeny, chemical composition, and curative effects (pharmacological activity and the traditional curative effect) of medicinal plants. In addition, it provides the basic tools to enable research and development of CM resources. This literature review, based on the genetic relationship between phytogroup and species, highlights the formation process, research content, applications, and future directions of pharmacophylogeny.
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Xiao PG and Li MH conceived the structure of article. Gong X, Yang M, He CN, Bi YQ, and Zhang CH searched the literature. Gong X, Yang M and Bi YQ wrote the paper. He CN and Zhang CH reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript for publication.
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Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81760776, 81874336), and Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (No. 2018ZD134)
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Gong, X., Yang, M., He, Cn. et al. Plant Pharmacophylogeny: Review and Future Directions. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 28, 567–574 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-020-3270-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-020-3270-9