Terpenoids are a class of natural compounds widely present in nature and have important values in plants，animals and human beings. 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase（DXS）is the first and a rate-limiting enzyme in 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosohate（MEP）pathway，and plays a key role in the regulation of terpenoids biosynthesis. It is located in the thylakoids and has a plastid transit peptide sequence and three functional domains：a TPP binding domain，transketolase domain and pyrimidine binding domain. The DXS enzyme activity can be measured by high performance liquid chromatography. At present，DXS genes have been cloned and isolated from 178 plants and can be sorted into three classes based on the homology of protein sequences：DXS1，DXS2，and DXS3. The expression patterns of DXS genes were demonstrated by tissue specificity，circadian rhythm and related to developmental stages of flowers and fruits as well as varieties. Overexpression or inhibition of DXS genes in transgenic plants with exogenous or endogenous DXS genes can influence the variations of photosynthetic pigments（such as chlorophylls and carotenoids），endogenous hormones（such as abscisic acid and gibberellin）and other terpenoids. In this paper，characteristics of DXS protein，the types of DXS gene，and their expressions，regulations and genetic transformations were reviewed prominently in order to provide theoretical and practical references for plant breeding and metabolism regulation.
