Abstract: Phytic acid is abundant in the seeds of crop especially in maize. Originally, the excellent work of the breeders foucus on the remarkebale reduction of the phytic acid and the increasing of inorganic phosphorus in seeds. While, as indeep research of phytic acid, people have known that this strange compound has irreplaceable function for both plant and animal. Phytic acid is an antinutritional factor, but it is also an important healthy factor for human and animal. For plant, the function of phytic acid is poorly known. Knowledge about its synthesis and its functions is poorly understood yet, since we know its existence early. We must have an accurate knowledge about its synthesis pathway if we want to grasp the right oreintation of the phytic acid breeding. For the past few years, a few researches focusing on the metabolism of phytic acid have been reported. Here, we review the functions of phytic acid and the progress concerning its metabolism research; describe and analyze its pathway in plant, and the four different strategies involved in the studying of phytic acid metabolism. Those strategies would promotes the progerss of the inositol phosphates research in the future.

Key words: phytic acid, metabolism, strategies, maize

摘要： 作物尤其是玉米的种子中积累了丰富的植酸。早先的研究侧重于降低种子中植酸的含量,但是随着人们对植酸认识的深入，发现植酸对于动、植物而言具有不可替代的生物功能。对于人和动物而言，植酸有抗营养作用，但也是重要的健康因子;对于植物而言，植酸及其代谢中间体的生物学功能却缺乏明确的研究。若要明确把握植酸的育种方向，就必须对植酸在植物中的合成过程有明确的认识。但自植酸被发现至今，人们对于其在高等植物中的合成过程仍然知之甚少，对其生物学功能更是缺乏全面的了解。本文综述了植酸代谢研究的现状，分析并总结了植酸的代谢通路，指出了植酸代谢研究的突破点，结合植酸代谢的研究特点和进展，比较了基因同源克隆、关联分析等4种最具潜力的研究策略。

关键词: 植酸, 代谢, 研究策略, 玉米