Plant glycosyltransferases for expanding bioactive glycoside diversity

Glycosylation is a successful strategy to alter the pharmacological properties of small molecules, and it has emerged as a unique approach to expand the chemical space of natural products that can be explored in drug discovery. Traditionally, most glycosylation events have been carried out chemically, often requiring many protection and deprotection steps to achieve a target molecule. Enzymatic glycosylation by glycosyltransferases could provide an alternative strategy for producing new glycosides. In particular, the glycosyltransferase family has greatly expanded in plants, representing a rich enzymatic resource to mine and expand the diversity of glycosides with novel bioactive properties. This article highlights previous and prospective uses for plant glycosyltransferases in generating bioactive glycosides and altering their pharmacological properties.