MYB Repressors as Regulators of Phenylpropanoid Metabolism in Plants.

Pathogens hitting the plant cell wall is the first impetus that triggers the phenylpropanoid pathway for plant defense. The phenylpropanoid pathway bifurcates into the production of an enormous array of compounds based on the few intermediates of the shikimate pathway in response to cell wall breaches by pathogens. The whole metabolomic pathway is a complex network regulated by multiple gene families and it exhibits refined regulatory mechanisms at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and post-translational levels. The pathway genes are involved in the production of anti-microbial compounds as well as signaling molecules. The engineering in the metabolic pathway has led to a new plant defense system of which various mechanisms have been proposed including salicylic acid and antimicrobial mediated compounds. In recent years, some key players like phenylalanine ammonia lyases (PALs) from the phenylpropanoid pathway are proposed to have broad spectrum disease resistance (BSR) without yield penalties. Now we have more evidence than ever, yet little understanding about the pathway-based genes that orchestrate rapid, coordinated induction of phenylpropanoid defenses in response to microbial attack. It is not astonishing that mutants of pathway regulator genes can show conflicting results. Therefore, precise engineering of the pathway is an interesting strategy to aim at profitably tailored plants. Here, this review portrays the current progress and challenges for phenylpropanoid pathway-based resistance from the current prospective to provide a deeper understanding.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/9/4/312/pdf

Phenylpropanoid Pathway Engineering: An Emerging Approach towards Plant Defense

Plants face a more volatile environment than other organisms because of their immobility, and they have developed highly efficient mechanisms to adapt to stress conditions. Transcription factors, as an important part of the adaptation process, are activated by different signals and are responsible for the expression of stress-responsive genes. MYB transcription factors, as one of the most widespread transcription factor families in plants, participate in plant development and responses to stresses by combining with MYB cis-elements in promoters of target genes. MYB transcription factors have been extensively studied and have proven to be critical in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in plants, including anthocyanins, flavonols, and lignin. Multiple studies have now shown that MYB proteins play diverse roles in the responses to abiotic stresses, such as drought, salt, and cold stresses. However, the regulatory mechanism of MYB proteins in abiotic stresses is still not well understood. In this review, we will focus mainly on the function of Arabidopsis MYB transcription factors in abiotic stresses, especially how MYB proteins participate in these stress responses. We also pay attention to how the MYB proteins are regulated in these processes at both the transcript and protein levels.

https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/11/6125/pdf

Multiple Functions of MYB Transcription Factors in Abiotic Stress Responses

MYB proteins constitute one of the largest transcription factor families in the plant kingdom, members of which perform a variety of functions in plant biological processes. However, there are only very limited reports on the characterization of MYB transcription factors in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). In our study, a total of 127 MYB genes have been identified in the tomato genome. A complete overview of these MYB genes is presented, including the phylogeny, gene structures, protein motifs, chromosome locations and expression patterns. The 127 SlMYB proteins could be classified into 18 subgroups based on domain similarity and phylogenetic topology. Phylogenetic analysis of SlMYBs along with MYBs from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and rice (Oryza sativa) indicated 14 subfamilies. Conserved motifs outside the MYB domain may reflect their functional conservation. The identified tomato MYB genes were distributed on 12 chromosomes at various densities but mainly in chromosomes 6 and 10 (12.6% and 11.8%, respectively). Genome-wide segmental and tandem duplications were also found, which may contribute to the expansion of SlMYB genes. RNA-sequencing and microarray data revealed tissue-specific and stress-responsive expression patterns of SlMYB genes. The expression profiles of SlMYB genes in response to salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid methyl ester (MeJA) were also investigated by real-time PCR. Moreover, ethylene-responsive element-binding factor-associated amphiphilic repression (EAR) motifs were found in 24 SlMYB proteins. Collectively, our comprehensive analysis of SlMYB genes will facilitate future functional studies of the tomato MYB gene family and probably other Solanaceae plants.

/pdf/genome-wide-identification-and-analysis-of-the-myb-18kk9rj5zc.pdf

Genome-Wide Identification and Analysis of the MYB Transcription Factor Superfamily in Solanum lycopersicum.

Anthocyanins are natural water-soluble pigments that are important in plants because they endow a variety of colors to vegetative tissues and reproductive plant organs, mainly ranging from red to purple and blue. The colors regulated by anthocyanins give plants different visual effects through different biosynthetic pathways that provide pigmentation for flowers, fruits and seeds to attract pollinators and seed dispersers. The biosynthesis of anthocyanins is genetically determined by structural and regulatory genes. MYB (v-myb avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog) proteins are important transcriptional regulators that play important roles in the regulation of plant secondary metabolism. MYB transcription factors (TFs) occupy a dominant position in the regulatory network of anthocyanin biosynthesis. The TF conserved binding motifs can be combined with other TFs to regulate the enrichment and sedimentation of anthocyanins. In this study, the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthetic mechanisms of MYB-TFs are discussed. The role of the environment in the control of the anthocyanin biosynthesis network is summarized, the complex formation of anthocyanins and the mechanism of environment-induced anthocyanin synthesis are analyzed. Some prospects for MYB-TF to modulate the comprehensive regulation of anthocyanins are put forward, to provide a more relevant basis for further research in this field, and to guide the directed genetic modification of anthocyanins for the improvement of crops for food quality, nutrition and human health.

MYB-Mediated Regulation of Anthocyanin Biosynthesis

Sub-group 4 R2R3-type MYB transcription factors, including MYB3, MYB4, MYB7 and MYB32, act as repressors in phenylpropanoid metabolism. These proteins contain the conserved MYB domain and the ethylene-responsive element binding factor-associated amphiphilic repression (EAR) repression domain. Additionally, MYB4, MYB7 and MYB32 possess a putative zinc-finger domain and a conserved GY/FDFLGL motif in their C-termini. The protein 'sensitive to ABA and drought 2' (SAD2) recognizes the nuclear pore complex, which then transports the SAD2-MYB4 complex into the nucleus. Here, we show that the conserved GY/FDFLGL motif contributes to the interaction between MYB factors and SAD2. The Asp → Asn mutation in the GY/FDFLGL motif abolishes the interaction between MYB transcription factors and SAD2, and therefore they cannot be transported into the nucleus and cannot repress their target genes. We found that MYB4(D261N) loses the capacity to repress expression of the cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H) gene and biosynthesis of sinapoyl malate. Our results indicate conservation among MYB transcription factors in terms of their interaction with SAD2. Therefore, the Asp → Asn mutation may be used to engineer transcription factors.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/tpj.13008

Changing a conserved amino acid in R2R3‐MYB transcription repressors results in cytoplasmic accumulation and abolishes their repressive activity in Arabidopsis

Yixiong Tang

Papers

Changing a conserved amino acid in R2R3‐MYB transcription repressors results in cytoplasmic accumulation and abolishes their repressive activity in Arabidopsis