Transcriptional Regulation of Plant Secondary Metabolism

• Published in: Journal of integrative plant biology Vol. 54; no. 10; pp. 703 - 712
• Main Authors: Yang, Chang-Qing, Fang, Xin, Wu, Xiu-Ming, Mao, Ying-Bo, Wang, Ling-Jian, Chen, Xiao-Ya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne, Australia Blackwell Publishing Asia 01.10.2012; Plant Science Research Center, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai 201602, China; National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China%National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
• Subjects: Alkaloid; Alkaloids - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - genetics; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - physiology; phenylpropanoid; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plants - genetics; Plants - metabolism; secondary metabolism; Terpenes - metabolism; terpenoid; transcription factor; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism; 代谢调控; 发育阶段; 植物次生代谢产物; 生物合成; 相互作用; 编码基因; 转录因子; 转录调控; phenylpropanoid; transcription factor; Alkaloid; terpenoid; secondary metabolism
• ISSN: 1672-9072; 1744-7909; 1744-7909
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7909.2012.01161.x

Plant secondary metabolites play critical roles in plant-environment interactions. They are synthesized in different organs or tissues at particular developmental stages, and in response to various environmental stimuli, both biotic and abiotic. Accordingly, corresponding genes are regulated at the transcriptional level by multiple transcription factors. Several families of transcription factors have been identified to participate in controlling the biosynthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites. These regulators integrate internal （often developmental） and external signals, bind to corresponding cis-elements -- which are often in the promoter regions -- to activate or repress the expression of enzyme-coding genes, and some of them interact with other transcription factors to form a complex. In this review, we summarize recent research in these areas, with an emphasis on newly-identified transcription factors and their functions in metabolism regulation.