Abstract: Promoters are the most fundamental elements responsible for regulating transcription initiation and are essential for the survival and adaptation of prokaryotes. An in-depth study of the prokaryotic promoters helps to understand the regulatory mechanism of gene expression, which is conducive to constructing intelligent and efficient engineering strains and then helps to improve the production of important metabolites, which is of great significance to the fields of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. In recent years, with the continuous accumulation of research results on prokaryotic promoters, a large number of promoter sequences have been cloned, characterized as well as modified, and attempted to be used in production practice. This article introduces the structure and types of prokaryotic promoters and elaborates on the methods of promoter prediction, structural analysis, functional identification, and development and application. Finally, it prospects research in this field, intending to provide ideas for screening and identifying new proka-ryotic promoters, improving efficient expression of target genes, and optimizing metabolic pathways.