Abstract: 2’-Fucosyllactose (2’-FL) is the most abundant human milk oligosaccharides (about 31%), which plays an important role in the growth and development of infants. At the end of 2019, 2’-FL was approved as a new food ingredient for marketing in the European Union. Therefore, how to produce 2’-FL efficiently and safely has become a research hotspot nowadays. Compared with other methods for the synthesis of 2’-FL, using a microbial cell factory has the advantages of low cost, safety and quickness, which is a feasible method for the mass production of 2’-FL. This brief review focuses on the activity of the key enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of 2’-FL, the secretion and accumulation of products, the catabolism of substrates and intermediate metabolites, and the regeneration of cofactors during the process, and it also discussed future trends in this field.

Key words: 2’-fucosyllactose; microbial synthesis; metabolic pathway modification