Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2023, Vol. 58 ›› Issue (4): 638-655.DOI: 10.11983/CBB22109

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Progress in the Research on Riboflavin Biosynthesis and Function in Plants

Haitao Hu1,2(), Longbiao Guo2   

  1. 1. College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou 310006, China

Abstract: Riboflavin is the precursor of flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) that serve as an indispensable cofactor to maintain normal metabolism, which plays pivotal roles in mitochondrial electron transport chain, citric acid cycle, β-oxidation of fatty acids, branched-chain amino acid catabolism, redox homeostasis, chromatin remodeling, DNA repair, apoptosis and secondary metabolite biosynthesis. Riboflavin deficiency will cause metabolic disorders and a series of defective phenotypes, and death in the most severe cases. Among the living organisms, microorganisms and plants can de novo synthesize riboflavin, but humans and animals can only obtain it from food. At present, the regulation of riboflavin biosynthesis in microorganisms has been clearly studied, but the mechanism of riboflavin transport and metabolism in plants is still not clear. Isolating riboflavin deficient mutants is crucial for analyzing the molecular mechanisms of riboflavin biosynthesis, transport, and metabolism in plants and the effect of riboflavin on plant growth and development. Here we review first the riboflavin biosynthetic pathway and its key enzymes, and then the processes of riboflavin involved in plant growth and development in detail, and finally give prospects for plant riboflavin research.

Key words: riboflavin, flavoprotein, biosynthesis, plant, transport and metabolism