Abstract: Violacein is an indole derivative produced by some microbes，which exhibits many interesting biological activities. The microbes capable of producing violacein，the biosynthesis mechanism and the bioactivities of violacein are reviewed in this paper. The future research trends and application prospect of violacein are discussed.

摘要： 紫色杆菌素是由微生物合成的一种吲哚衍生物，有很强的生物活性。综述了合成紫色杆菌素的微生物种类、紫色杆菌素生物合成的分子机制及其生物活性功能的研究进展，并对未来的相关研究趋势进行展望。