R2R3-MYB Transcription Factor PlMYB108 Confers Drought Tolerance in Herbaceous Peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.)

Abstract

The MYB transcription factor (TF) is crucial for plant growth, development, and response to abiotic stress, but it is rarely reported in the herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.). Here, an MYB TF gene was isolated, and based on our prior mRNA data from P. lactiflora samples, it was treated with drought stress (DS). Its complete cDNA structure was 1314 bp, which encoded 291 amino acids (aa). Furthermore, using sequence alignment analysis, we demonstrated that PlMYB108 was an R2R3-MYB TF. We also revealed that PlMYB108 was primarily localized in the nucleus. Its levels rose during DS, and it was positively correlated with drought tolerance (DT) in P. lactiflora. In addition, when PlMYB108 was overexpressed in tobacco plants, the flavonoid content, antioxidant enzyme activities, and photosynthesis were markedly elevated. Hence, the transgenic plants had stronger DT with a higher leaf water content and lower H2O2 accumulation compared to the wild-type (WT) plants. Based on these results, PlMYB108 is a vital gene that serves to increase flavonoid accumulation, reactive oxygen species (ROS), scavenging capacity, and photosynthesis to confer DT. The results would provide a genetic resource for molecular breeding to enhance plant DT.

Genome-Wide Identification Analysis of the R2R3-MYB Transcription Factor Family in Cymbidium sinense for Insights into Drought Stress Responses

“…Among the other species, GaMYB85 of Gossypium aridum , homolog with AtMYB85 from S8, reportedly play an important role in the drought tolerance of plants [ 34 ]. R2R3-MYB gene MdoMYB121 from Malus domestica , MbMYB4 from M. baccata, and PlMYB108 (S20) from Paeonia lactiflflora were involved in increasing drought tolerance [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Notably, these functional genes were detected in S8 and S20.…”

A Novel R2R3-MYB Transcription Factor SbMYB12 Positively Regulates Baicalin Biosynthesis in Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi

“…ProtScale ( (accessed on 20 September 2022)) was used to analyze its hydrophobic properties and charge distributions [ 38 ]. For analyzing transmembrane domains, the TMHMM server software ( (accessed on 20 September 2022)) was used [ 39 ], while the SignalP 5.0 Server ( (accessed on 20 September 2022)) was employed to estimate signaling peptides [ 40 ]. Using the SMART website ( (accessed on 20 September 2022)) [ 41 ], the protein domains of Sb MYB12 were predicted, while its tertiary structure was predicted using SWISS-MODEL ( (accessed on 20 September 2022)) [ 42 ].…”

Comparative analysis of the MYB gene family in seven Ipomoea species

“…The 2R-MYB genes, named R2R3-MYB, were usually the largest MYB gene subfamily in green plants ( Martin and Paz-Ares, 1997 ). They play essential roles in plant lifetime, including (1) primary and secondary metabolites, such as phenylpropanoid metabolism ( Liu et al., 2015 ; Tang et al., 2021 ), flavonoid biosynthesis ( Czemmel et al., 2012 ; Lin et al., 2021 ; Zhao et al., 2022b ), anthocyanin biosynthesis ( Naing and Kim, 2018 ; Upadhyaya et al., 2021 ; Wang et al., 2022c ), chlorogenic acid biosynthesis ( Tang et al., 2021 ), indolic and aliphatic glucosinolate biosynthesis ( Gigolashvili et al., 2009 ), and apigenin biosynthesis ( Wang et al., 2022b ); (2) cell fate and identity, for instance, epidermis and root formation ( Du et al., 2009 ); (3) developmental processes, like embryogenesis ( Wang et al., 2009 ), pollen development ( Liu et al., 2021 ), male sterility ( Yu et al., 2021 ), and plant trichome development ( Shangguan et al., 2021 ); and (4) responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, including diseases ( Shen et al., 2017 ; Gu et al., 2020 ; Hawku et al., 2022 ), high salinity ( Wang et al., 2021a ; Du et al., 2022 ), cold ( Dong et al., 2021 ), heat ( Wu et al., 2021b ), and drought ( Lv et al., 2021 ; Wu et al., 2021a ).…”