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Review
. 2022 Jul 31;11(15):1997.
doi: 10.3390/plants11151997.

The Role of Transcription Factors in the Regulation of Plant Shoot Branching

Lingling Zhang  1 , Weimin Fang  1 , Fadi Chen  1 , Aiping Song  1
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Transcription Factors in the Regulation of Plant Shoot Branching

Lingling Zhang et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Transcription factors, also known as trans-acting factors, balance development and stress responses in plants. Branching plays an important role in plant morphogenesis and is closely related to plant biomass and crop yield. The apical meristem produced during plant embryonic development repeatedly produces the body of the plant, and the final aerial structure is regulated by the branching mode generated by axillary meristem (AM) activities. These branching patterns are regulated by two processes: AM formation and axillary bud growth. In recent years, transcription factors involved in regulating these processes have been identified. In addition, these transcription factors play an important role in various plant hormone pathways and photoresponses regulating plant branching. In this review, we start from the formation and growth of axillary meristems, including the regulation of hormones, light and other internal and external factors, and focus on the transcription factors involved in regulating plant branching and development to provide candidate genes for improving crop architecture through gene editing or directed breeding.

Keywords: axillary meristem; branching; development; transcription factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Steps of plant shoot branching. (a) indicates the axillary meristem at the leaf primordium axils. (b) indicates the formation of axillary meristems (area shown in yellow box in (a)). (c) represents the development of plant axillary meristem into young branches.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The pattern of transcription factors involved in regulating axillary meristem formation in Arabidopsis thaliana. The rectangular box represents a transcription factor, the same color represents the same family, and ellipses represent genes other than transcription factors. The arrow and rough line represent positive and negative regulation, respectively.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Patterns of transcription factors involved in regulating axillary meristem growth in Arabidopsis thaliana. The rectangular box represents transcription factors, the same color represents the same family, and ellipses represent genes other than transcription factors. The arrow and rough line represent positive and negative regulation, respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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