Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Sep 3;22(17):9544.
doi: 10.3390/ijms22179544.

Recent Advanced Metabolic and Genetic Engineering of Phenylpropanoid Biosynthetic Pathways

Muhammad Anwar  1   2 , Liu Chen  1   2 , Yibo Xiao  1   2 , Jinsong Wu  3 , Lihui Zeng  4 , Hui Li  1 , Qingyu Wu  1   3 , Zhangli Hu  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Recent Advanced Metabolic and Genetic Engineering of Phenylpropanoid Biosynthetic Pathways

Muhammad Anwar et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

The MYB transcription factors (TFs) are evolving as critical role in the regulation of the phenylpropanoid and tanshinones biosynthetic pathway. MYB TFs relate to a very important gene family, which are involved in the regulation of primary and secondary metabolisms, terpenoids, bioactive compounds, plant defense against various stresses and cell morphology. R2R3 MYB TFs contained a conserved N-terminal domain, but the domain at C-terminal sorts them different regarding their structures and functions. MYB TFs suppressors generally possess particular repressive motifs, such as pdLNLD/ELxiG/S and TLLLFR, which contribute to their suppression role through a diversity of complex regulatory mechanisms. A novel flower specific "NF/YWSV/MEDF/LW" conserved motif has a great potential to understand the mechanisms of flower development. In the current review, we summarize recent advanced progress of MYB TFs on transcription regulation, posttranscriptional, microRNA, conserved motif and propose directions to future prospective research. We further suggest there should be more focus on the investigation for the role of MYB TFs in microalgae, which has great potential for heterologous protein expression system for future perspectives.

Keywords: bioactive compounds; flavonoids; pdLNLD/ELxiG/S motif; phenolic acid; plant defense; repressor MYB; tanshinones.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
An Integrated regulatory mechanisms network of the Phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway, which is controlled through MYB TFs and MBW complex activation, is constructed based on the recent remarkable research advancement.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phylogenetic tree of MYB TFs, which are involved in the regulation of secondary metabolites.
Figure 3
Figure 3
General Biosynthetic pathway of terpenoids (Tanshinones). The red arrow indicates the improvement of biosynthesis of tanshinones through the positive regulation of R2R3 MYB TFs. 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) biosynthetic pathway takes place in the cytosol and mevalonate (MVA) biosynthetic pathway takes place in plastid areas. SmMYB98b, SmMYB36, SmMYB98 and SmMYB97 positively regulate the tanshinones biosynthesis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The conserved motif at C-terminal. (A) the conserved motif that regulates the anther development; (B) this conserved motif regulate the flavonol biosynthesis; (C) C2 motif (LxLxLx), which has repressive activities.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Phylogenetic relationship and signature of conserved protein motifs in R2R3 and R3 MYB repressors connected to phenylpropanoid biosynthesis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wu Z., Li T., Liu X., Yuan G., Hou H., Teng N. A novel R2R3-MYB transcription factor LlMYB305 from Lilium longiflorum plays a positive role in thermotolerance via activating heat-protective genes. Environ. Exp. Bot. 2021;184:104399. doi: 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2021.104399. - DOI
    1. Stracke R., Werber M., Weisshaar B. The R2R3-MYB gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 2001;4:447–456. doi: 10.1016/S1369-5266(00)00199-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Xiang X.-J., Sun L.-P., Yu P., Yang Z.-F., Zhang P.-P., Zhang Y.-X., Wu W.-X., Chen D.-B., Zhan X.-D., Khan R.-M., et al. The MYB transcription factor Baymax1 plays a critical role in rice male fertility. Theor. Appl. Genet. 2020;134:453–471. doi: 10.1007/s00122-020-03706-w. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Liu J., Osbourn A., Ma P. MYB Transcription Factors as Regulators of Phenylpropanoid Metabolism in Plants. Mol. Plant. 2015;8:689–708. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2015.03.012. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cao Y., Li K., Li Y., Zhao X., Wang L. MYB Transcription Factors as Regulators of Secondary Metabolism in Plants. Biology. 2020;9:61. doi: 10.3390/biology9030061. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources