Background

The control of plant anthocyanin accumulation is via transcriptional regulation of the genes encoding the biosynthetic enzymes. A key activator appears to be an R2R3 MYB transcription factor. In apple fruit, skin anthocyanin levels are controlled by a gene called MYBA or MYB1, while the gene determining fruit flesh and foliage anthocyanin has been termed MYB10. In order to further understand tissue-specific anthocyanin regulation we have isolated orthologous MYB genes from all the commercially important rosaceous species.

Results

We use gene specific primers to show that the three MYB activators of apple anthocyanin (MYB10/MYB1/MYBA) are likely alleles of each other. MYB transcription factors, with high sequence identity to the apple gene were isolated from across the rosaceous family (e.g. apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, raspberries, rose, strawberry). Key identifying amino acid residues were found in both the DNA-binding and C-terminal domains of these MYBs. The expression of these MYB10 genes correlates with fruit and flower anthocyanin levels. Their function was tested in tobacco and strawberry. In tobacco, these MYBs were shown to induce the anthocyanin pathway when co-expressed with bHLHs, while over-expression of strawberry and apple genes in the crop of origin elevates anthocyanins.

Conclusions

This family-wide study of rosaceous R2R3 MYBs provides insight into the evolution of this plant trait. It has implications for the development of new coloured fruit and flowers, as well as aiding the understanding of temporal-spatial colour change.

An R2R3 MYB transcription factor associated with regulation of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway in Rosaceae

Abiotic and biotic stresses adversely affect the growth and productivity of plants and constitute the major yield-limiting factor in agriculture. In recent years, several  transcription factors (TF) have been identified that can function as switches to control the expression of potential stress-related genes. These transcription factors play crucial roles in governing transcriptional reprogramming during development in plant biological systems and are also capable of increasing the tolerance of plants to abiotic and biotic stresses. Thus, identifying and characterizing critical genes that are involved in plant stress responses are essential for the development of transgenic plants that exhibit enhanced stress tolerance. This review describes the DREB/ERF, MYB, NAC and WRKY TF and summarizes the studies that highlight their potential in engineering abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in transgenic plants.

Potential use of the DREB/ERF, MYB, NAC and WRKY transcription factors to improve abiotic and biotic stress in transgenic plants

The effect of the layer-by-layer (LBL) edible coating on strawberry quality and metabolites during storage

The red coloration of pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) results from anthocyanin accumulation in the fruit peel. Light is required for anthocyanin biosynthesis in pear. A pear homolog of Arabidopsis thaliana BBX22, PpBBX16, was differentially expressed after fruits were removed from bags and may be involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Here, the expression and function of PpBBX16 were analysed. PpBBX16's expression was highly induced by white-light irradiation, as was anthocyanin accumulation. PpBBX16's ectopic expression in Arabidopsis increased anthocyanin biosynthesis in the hypocotyls and tops of flower stalks. PpBBX16 was localized in the nucleus and showed trans-activity in yeast cells. Although PpBBX16 could not directly bind to the promoter of PpMYB10 or PpCHS in yeast one-hybrid assays, the complex of PpBBX16/PpHY5 strongly trans-activated anthocyanin pathway genes in tobacco. PpBBX16's overexpression in pear calli enhanced the red coloration during light treatments. Additionally, PpBBX16's transient overexpression in pear peel increased anthocyanin accumulation, while virus-induced gene silencing of PpBBX16 decreased anthocyanin accumulation. The expression patterns of pear BBX family members were analysed, and six additional BBX genes, which were differentially expressed during light-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis, were identified. Thus, PpBBX16 is a positive regulator of light-induced anthocyanin accumulation, but it could not directly induce the expression of the anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes by itself but needed PpHY5 to gain full function. Our work uncovered regulatory modes for PpBBX16 and suggested the potential functions of other pear BBX genes in the regulation of anthocyanin accumulation, thereby providing target genes for further studies on anthocyanin biosynthesis.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/pbi.13114

BBX16, a B-box protein, positively regulates light-induced anthocyanin accumulation by activating MYB10 in red pear.

This review contains functional roles of MYB transcription factors in the transcriptional regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in horticultural plants This review describes potential uses of MYB TFs as tools for metabolic engineering for anthocyanin production Anthocyanins (ranging from red to blue) are controlled by specific branches of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway and are mostly visible in ornamentals, fruits, and vegetables In the present review, we describe which R2R3-MYB transcription factors (TFs) control the transcriptional regulation of anthocyanin structural genes involved in the specific branches of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway in various horticultural plants (eg, ornamentals, fruits, and vegetables) In addition, some MYBs responsible for anthocyanin accumulation in specific tissues are described Moreover, we highlight the phylogenetic relationships of the MYBs that suppress or promote anthocyanin synthesis in horticultural crops Enhancement of anthocyanin synthesis via metabolic genetic engineering of anthocyanin MYBs, which is described in the review, is indicative of the potential use of the mentioned anthocyanin-related MYBs as tools for anthocyanin production Therefore, the MYBs would be suitable for metabolic genetic engineering for improvement of flower colors, fruit quality, and vegetable nutrients

Roles of R2R3-MYB transcription factors in transcriptional regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in horticultural plants

Sweet cherry is a diploid tree species and its fruit skin has rich colours from yellow to blush to dark red. The colour is closely related to anthocyanin biosynthesis and is mainly regulated at the transcriptional level by transcription factors that regulate the expression of multiple structural genes. However, the genetic and molecular bases of how these genes ultimately determine the fruit skin colour traits remain poorly understood. Here, our genetic and molecular evidences identified the R2R3 MYB transcription factor PavMYB10.1 that is involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway and determines fruit skin colour in sweet cherry. Interestingly, we identified three functional alleles of the gene causally leading to the different colours at mature stage. Meanwhile, our experimental results of yeast two-hybrid assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed that PavMYB10.1 might interact with proteins PavbHLH and PavWD40, and bind to the promoter regions of the anthocyanin biosynthesis genes PavANS and PavUFGT; these findings provided to a certain extent mechanistic insight into the gene's functions. Additionally, genetic and molecular evidences confirmed that PavMYB10.1 is a reliable DNA molecular marker to select fruit skin colour in sweet cherry.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/pbi.12568

The R2R3 MYB transcription factor PavMYB10.1 involves in anthocyanin biosynthesis and determines fruit skin colour in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.)

Octoploid strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is a model plant for research and one of the most important non-climacteric fruit crops throughout the world. The associations between regulatory networks and metabolite composition were explored for one of the most critical agricultural properties in octoploid strawberry, fruit colour. Differences in the levels of flavonoids are due to the differences in the expression of structural and regulatory genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis. The molecular mechanisms underlying differences in fruit colour were compared between red and white octoploid strawberry varieties. FaMYB genes had combinatorial effects in determining the red colour of fruit through the regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis in response to the increase in endogenous ABA at the final stage of fruit development. Analysis of alleles of FaMYB10 and FaMYB1 in red and white strawberry varieties led to the discovery of a white-specific variant allele of FaMYB10, FaMYB10-2. Its coding sequence possessed an ACTTATAC insertion in the genomic region encoding the C-terminus of the protein. This insertion introduced a predicted premature termination codon, which suggested the loss of intact FaMYB10 protein playing a critical role in the loss of red colour in white octoploid strawberry.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/pbi.13282

The control of red colour by a family of MYB transcription factors in octoploid strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) fruits.

Differences in volatile ester composition between Fragaria × ananassa and F. vesca and implications for strawberry aroma patterns

ABSTRACT Global climate changes cause extreme temperatures and a significant reduction in crop production, leading to food insecurity worldwide. Temperature extremes (including both heat and cold stresses) is one of the most limiting factors in plant growth and development and severely affect plant physiology, biochemical, and molecular processes. Biostimulants like melatonin (MET) have a multifunctional role that acts as a “defense molecule” to safeguard plants against the noxious effects of temperature stress. MET treatment improves plant growth and temperature tolerance by improving several defense mechanisms. Current research also suggests that MET interacts with other molecules, like phytohormones and gaseous molecules, which greatly supports plant adaptation to temperature stress. Genetic engineering via overexpression or CRISPR/Cas system of MET biosynthetic genes uplifts the MET levels in transgenic plants and enhances temperature stress tolerance. This review highlights the critical role of MET in plant production and tolerance against temperature stress. We have documented how MET interacts with other molecules to alleviate temperature stress. MET-mediated molecular breeding would be great potential in helping the adverse effects of temperature stress by creating transgenic plants.

Melatonin-mediated temperature stress tolerance in plants

Dehydration response element binding (DREB)1b is a cold-inducible transcrip- tion factor in Arabidopsis thaliana. DREB1b driven by cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter was genetically introduced into grape Vitis vinifera L. cv. Centennial Seedless through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation for improving its cold resistance and exploring new genetic breeding approaches to obtain cold-resistant cultivars. In this study,SouthernblotanalysisshowedtheDREB1bgenewasintegratedintothetransgenic grapevines with one to two copies. Northern blot analysis showed the presence of DREB1b transcripts in the independent transgenic lines 3, 5, 6, and 7. Further characterization of transgenic grapevines confirmed that both electrolyte leakage conductivity and the freezing point of the transgenic plants were lower than those of wild-type plants. After the cold treatment at -4 8C for 12 h, 26% of transgenic plants wilted among which 95% plants recovered once being placed under the condition of temperature 22 to 25 8C. However, subjected to the same treatment, 98% of non- transgenic plants wilted and only 2% recovered. Our results lead to the conclusion that activity of DREB1b in the transgenic grape could significantly improve its resistance to cold stress.

/pdf/improved-cold-resistant-performance-in-transgenic-grape-1eylo5lx3k.pdf

Wanmei Jin

Papers

The R2R3 MYB transcription factor PavMYB10.1 involves in anthocyanin biosynthesis and determines fruit skin colour in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.)

The control of red colour by a family of MYB transcription factors in octoploid strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) fruits.

Differences in volatile ester composition between Fragaria × ananassa and F. vesca and implications for strawberry aroma patterns

Melatonin-mediated temperature stress tolerance in plants

Improved Cold-resistant Performance in Transgenic Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) Overexpressing Cold-inducible Transcription Factors AtDREB1b