信息学与大数据——药用植物亲缘学发展的新阶段

药用植物亲缘学是一门集成了植物系统学、植物化学、中药学、药理学等多学科知识体系的交叉学科,在指导药用植物资源开发与利用方面发挥了重要的作用。近年来,各类信息学研究方法兴起,在活性天然产物发现、药用植物亲缘关系分析、中药资源开发利用等领域逐渐发展成为不可忽视的技术手段。科学研究进入大数据时代,各类信息学方法与传统药用植物亲缘学研究融合,拓展出了更广阔的研究空间,为这一学科的发展带来了新动力。对近年来化学信息学、生物信息学等方法的发展进行简要回顾,梳理各类信息学方法在药用植物亲缘学中的应用情况,进而对药用植物亲缘学未来的发展趋势进行了展望。

Informatics and Big Data: A New Stage of Pharmacophylogeny in Medicinal Plants

The pharmacophylogeny in medicinal plants is an interdisciplinary subject that integrates the knowledge system of plant systematics, phytochemistry, the science of Chinese Materia Medica, modern pharmacology, etc., and pivotal in the development and utilization of medicinal plant resources. In recent years, the emerging research methods of informatics have served as noticeable technical means in the fields of discovery of new active natural products, genetic relationship analysis of medicinal plants, and development and utilization of medicinal plant resources. In the era of big data, the integration of various informatics methods with traditional medicinal plant genetics creates a broader research space and boosts the development of this subject. The present study briefly reviewed the recent development of cheminformatics and bioinformatics, sorted out the applications of various informatics methods of pharmacophylogeny in medicinal plants, and predicted the development trend in the future.