Transcriptional Factor-Mediated Regulation of Active Component Biosynthesis in Medicinal Plants

Abstract

Background: Plants produce thousands of chemically diverse secondary metabolites, many of which have valuable pharmaceutical properties. There is much interest in the synthesis of these pharmaceutically-valuable compounds, including the key enzymes and the transcription factors involved. The function and regulatory mechanism of transcription factors in biotic and abiotic stresses have been studied in depth. However, their regulatory roles in the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds, especially in medicinal plants, have only begun. Objective: Here we review what is currently known about how transcription factors contribute to the synthesis of bioactive compounds (alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, and phenolic acids) in medicinal plants. Results and Conclusion: Recent progress has been made in the cloning and characterization of transcription factors in medicinal plants on the genome scale. So far, several large transcription factors have been identified in MYB, WRKY, bHLH, ZIP, AP2/ERF transcription factors. These transcription factors have been predicted to regulate bioactive compound production. These transcription factors positively or negatively regulate the expression of multiple genes encoding key enzymes, and thereby control the metabolic flow through the biosynthetic pathway. Although the research addressing this niche topic is in its infancy, significant progress has been made, and advances in high-throughput sequencing technology are expected to accelerate the discovery of key regulatory transcription factors in medicinal plants. This review is likely to be useful for those interested in the synthesis of pharmaceutically-valuable plant compounds, especially those aiming to breed or engineer plants that produce greater yields of these compounds.

Integrated Analysis of Basic Helix Loop Helix Transcription Factor Family and Targeted Terpenoids Reveals Candidate AarbHLH Genes Involved in Terpenoid Biosynthesis in Artemisia argyi

“…Transcription factors (TFs) are critical controllers of functional gene expression in these pathways. In plants, five TF families (AP2/ERF, bHLH, MYB, WRKY, and bZIP) have been reported to be involved in the biosynthesis of terpenoids ( Lu et al, 2016 ; Wang et al, 2021 ).…”

Transcriptome analysis reveals candidate genes related to steroid alkaloid biosynthesis in Fritillaria anhuiensis

“…CAS belongs to the family of OSCs. According to differences in the backbone after cyclization, members of the OSC family can be categorized into CAS, β‐amyrin synthase, dammarenediol synthase, lupeol synthase, and lanosterol synthase (Hou et al, 2021; Wang, Guo, et al, 2021; Wang, Hou, et al, 2021; Wang, Qiu, et al, 2021). In the F. anhuiensis transcriptome, we identified one unigene (unigene6082) encoding the CAS enzyme.…”

“…Steroidal alkaloids are the major active constituents of Fritillaria L., and more than 100 have been isolated from this genus, accounting for approximately 85% of the total alkaloid content of Fritillaria . Peimine and peiminine contents are frequently used as important criteria for evaluating the quality of Fritillaria L. (Peng et al, 2012; Pi et al, 2009; Shen et al, 2011; Wang, Guo, et al, 2021; Wang, Hou, et al, 2021; Wang, Qiu, et al, 2021). Fritillaria anhuiensis S.C.Chen et S.P.Yin ( F. anhuiensis , Fa), called “Wanbeimu” in Chinese, is an important germplasm resource in the Fritillaria genus.…”

Transcriptome Analyses Revealed the Key Metabolic Genes and Transcription Factors Involved in Terpenoid Biosynthesis in Sacred Lotus

“…Therefore, it is speculated that these terpenoids may be regulated by multiple TPS. WRKY transcription factors have been reported to regulate terpenoid production by activating or inhibiting promoter binding of TPS [ 20 , 59 , 60 , 61 ]. In our study, our results showed that 26 members of WRKY were closely related to 34 TPS genes ( Figure 7 ).…”