MYB Transcription Factors as Regulators of Secondary Metabolism in Plants

Yunpeng Cao; Kui Li; Yanli Li; Xiaopei Zhao; Lihu Wang

doi:10.3390/biology9030061

MYB Transcription Factors as Regulators of Secondary Metabolism in Plants

Biology (Basel). 2020 Mar 24;9(3):61. doi: 10.3390/biology9030061.

Authors

Yunpeng Cao^{1

2}, Kui Li³, Yanli Li^{1

2}, Xiaopei Zhao⁴, Lihu Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Cultivation and Protection for Non-Wood Forest Trees, Ministry of Education, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China.
² Key Lab of Non-wood Forest Products of State Forestry Administration, College of Forestry, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China.
³ Science and Technology Promotion Center, Huaihua Forestry Research Institute, Huaihua 418000, China.
⁴ College of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.
⁵ College of Landscape and Ecological Engineering, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056038, China.

Abstract

MYB transcription factors (TFs), as one of the largest gene families in plants, play important roles in multiple biological processes, such as plant growth and development, cell morphology and pattern building, physiological activity metabolism, primary and secondary metabolic reactions, and responses to environmental stresses. The function of MYB TFs in crops has been widely studied, but few studies have been done on medicinal plants. In this review, we summarized the MYB TFs that play important roles in secondary metabolism and emphasized the possible mechanisms underlying how MYB TFs are regulated at the protein, posttranscriptional, and transcriptional levels, as well as how they regulate the downstream target gene networks related to secondary metabolism in plants, especially in medicinal plants.

Keywords: MYB TFs; plants transcription; secondary metabolism.

Publication types

Review