Multiple Functions of MYB Transcription Factors in Abiotic Stress Responses

Abstract

Plants face a more volatile environment than other organisms because of their immobility, and they have developed highly efficient mechanisms to adapt to stress conditions. Transcription factors, as an important part of the adaptation process, are activated by different signals and are responsible for the expression of stress-responsive genes. MYB transcription factors, as one of the most widespread transcription factor families in plants, participate in plant development and responses to stresses by combining with MYB cis-elements in promoters of target genes. MYB transcription factors have been extensively studied and have proven to be critical in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in plants, including anthocyanins, flavonols, and lignin. Multiple studies have now shown that MYB proteins play diverse roles in the responses to abiotic stresses, such as drought, salt, and cold stresses. However, the regulatory mechanism of MYB proteins in abiotic stresses is still not well understood. In this review, we will focus mainly on the function of Arabidopsis MYB transcription factors in abiotic stresses, especially how MYB proteins participate in these stress responses. We also pay attention to how the MYB proteins are regulated in these processes at both the transcript and protein levels.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Two Sweet Sorghum Genotypes with Different Salt Tolerance Abilities to Reveal the Mechanism of Salt Tolerance

“…Through comparative analysis of gene expression patterns, we found that the largest number of tolerant line-specific response TFs was MYB-type TFs (Figure 5E). MYBtype TFs have been proven to be critical in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and abiotic stress responses in plants [61]. The different expression patterns of MYB-type TFs might cause the different response patterns of genes in secondary metabolite biosynthesis between genotypes.…”

Combining Genome and Gene Co-expression Network Analyses for the Identification of Genes Potentially Regulating Salt Tolerance in Rice

“…This is consistent with the cis-regulatory elements found in the putative OsBTBZ1 promoter (Supplementary Figure 4), which include 3 ABREs, 5 MYB binding sites, and 16 MYC binding sites. Many MYB proteins regulate salt tolerance through regulation of the ABA signaling pathway (review: Wang et al, 2021). Both MYB and MYC proteins function as the transcriptional activators in ABA signaling in Arabidopsis (Abe et al, 2003).…”

ERF Transcription Factor OsBIERF3 Positively Contributes to Immunity against Fungal and Bacterial Diseases but Negatively Regulates Cold Tolerance in Rice

“…Genetic studies have demonstrated that dozens of TFs from the families of WRKY, AP2/ERF (Apetala2/Ethylene Responsive Factor), NAC (NAM, ATAF and CUC), bZIP (basic leucine zipper domain), bHLH (basic helix-loop-helix), and Myb play crucial roles in modulating biotic and abiotic stress responses in higher plants [ 16 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. The AP2/ERF superfamily is a large plant-specific TF family and the rice AP2/ERF superfamily consists of 163 members, among which 134 belong to the ERF subfamily [ 30 , 31 ].…”