| Summary: | <i>C. militaris</i> is an insect-born fungus that belongs to <i>Ascomycota</i> and <i>Cordyceps</i>. It has a variety of biological activities that can be applied in medicine, health-care products, cosmeceuticals and other fields. Cordycepin (COR) is one of the major bioactive components identified from <i>C. militaris</i>. Thus, <i>C. militaris</i> and COR have attracted extensive attention. In this study, chemical synthetic methods and the biosynthesis pathway of COR were reviewed. As commercially COR was mainly isolated from <i>C. militaris</i> fermentation, the optimizations for liquid and solid fermentation and genetic modifications of <i>C. militaris</i> to increase COR content were also summarized. Moreover, the research progress of genetic modifications of <i>C. militaris</i> and methods for separation and purification COR were introduced. Finally, the existing problems and future research direction of <i>C. militaris</i> were discussed. This study provides a reference for the production of COR in the future.
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