Ginsenosides, the primary bioactive constituents of Panax plants, exhibit a wide range of remarkable pharmacological activities, including antitumor, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, neuroprotective and anti-fatigue effects, underpinning their significant medicinal value. Based on a systematic review of the recent advances in the chemical structures, classification, biosynthetic pathways and medicinal functions of ginsenosides, this article focuses on the transcription factors involved in the regulation of ginsenosides biosynthesis. The pathways various transcription factor (TF) families, including NAM, ATAF1/2 and CUC2 (NAC), basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH), myeloblastosis (MYB), APETALA2/ethylene-responsive factor (AP2/ERF), WRKYGOK (WRKY), TEOSINTE BRANCHED1, CYCLOIDEA and PCF (TCP) and [(Gibberellic Acid Insensitive, GRI), (Repressor of GAI-3 mutant, RGA), and (Scarecrow, SCR)](GRAS) precisely regulate the expression of key genes in the ginsenoside biosynthesis through responding to abiotic stresses such as cold, drought and salt, and phytohormone signals including methyl jasmonate (MeJA), ethylene and salicylic acid, leading to the ultimately determination of the accumulation and composition of ginsenosides. This paper raised the challenges in current studies concerning the molecular mechanisms of transcriptional regulation in ginsenoside biosynthesis, which could provide a theoretical reference for researchers in related fields to further improve quality of Panax ginseng through strategies such as synthetic biology and molecular breeding.

Panax L.  /  ginsenosides  /  biosynthesis  /  transcription factors  /  abiotic stress  /  phytohormone  /  antitumor  /  hypoglycemic  /  anti-inflammatory