雌雄异株药用植物性别二态性驱动次生代谢分化的生态机制及其对药材质量形成的意义OA

Sexual dimorphism in dioecious plants reflects divergent reproductive strategies and profoundly influences resource allocation and secondary metabolism.However,the effects of sexual dimorphism on the chemical composition,medicinal quality,and underlying ecological mechanisms of medicinal plants remain insufficiently understood.This review summarized recent advances regarding sexual dimorphism in the secondary metabolites of dioecious medicinal plants.This paper focused on the ecological and molecular mechanisms driving sex-specific metabolic differentiation,including resource allocation strategies,phytohormone regulation,transcriptional networks,and environmental interactions.Furthermore,this paper explored the implications of plant sex for medicinal material quality control and the formation of bioactive constituents.Current evidence indicates that plant sex significantly influences the composition and accumulation of diverse secondary metabolites,promoting sex-specific chemotypes through coordinated regulation of resource acquisition and allocation,environmental adaptation,and metabolic reprogramming.Plant sex represents a critical biological factor influencing medicinal quality and contributing to chemical variation in medicinal materials.However,sex-related chemical variations exhibit strong species-specificity and environmental dependence,and their direct effects on pharmacological efficacy and clinical applications lack sufficient empirical support.Future research should foster interdisciplinary integration among plant ecology,chemical ecology,plant metabolic biology,and pharmaceutical sciences.By combining multi-omics approaches,long-term ecological observations,and standardized bioactivity evaluations,future studies should establish a conceptual framework linking plant sex,resource acquisition and allocation,secondary metabolic networks,and medicinal quality.Such efforts will elucidate the ecological mechanisms underlying sex-driven medicinal quality formation and provide theoretical foundations for the precise utilization of dioecious medicinal plant resources,quality control of traditional Chinese medicines,and their modernization.