Construction of the microbial cell factory is one of the developmental directions of current green chemical industry. The microbial cell factory is a kind of recombined microorganism and its metabolic and regulatory pathways have been reconstructed by metabolic engineering and synthetic biology to synthetic new compounds or to improve the yield of target production. The microbial metabolic pathway is regulated by two points: environment and genetic information. The cell maintains its homeostasis by global transcription factors

messenger molecules and feedback inhibition when the circumstance is changed. Meanwhile

the cell is affected by its own genetic circulate through transcription

translation and post-translational modification to regulate the expression of target gene. The riboswitches are RNA elements which change their conformation when bind to specific ligands such as ions

sugar derivatives

amino acids

nucleic acid derivatives and coenzymes to regulate the process of transcription

translation and splicing of mRNA. The riboswitches are natural biosensors and bioeffectors which can be designed as the intelligent molecular tools to fine regulate microbial cell factories. Using riboswitches in the microbial cell factory can extend the application in the field of chemical

pharmaceutical

environmental protection and food production.