Abstract
Plant growth-defense tradeoffs are fundamental for optimizing plant performance and fitness in a changing biotic/abiotic environment. This process is thought to involve readjusting resource allocation to different pathways. It has been frequently observed that among secondary cell wall components, alteration in lignin biosynthesis results in changes in both growth and defense. How this process is regulated, leading to growth or defense, remains largely elusive. In this article, we review the canonical lignin biosynthesis pathway, the recently discovered tyrosine shortcut pathway, and the biosynthesis of unconventional C-lignin. We summarize the current model of the hierarchical transcriptional regulation of lignin biosynthesis. Moreover, the interface between recently identified transcription factors and the hierarchical model are also discussed. We propose the existence of a transcriptional co-regulation mechanism coordinating energy allowance among growth, defense and lignin biosynthesis.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1427 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| Volume | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 28 2018 |
Funding
This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). This work was supported by the Center for Bioenergy Innovation and the Plant-Microbe Interfaces Scientific Focus Area by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| U.S. Department of Energy | DE-AC05-00OR22725 |
| Biological and Environmental Research | |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | |
| Center for Bioenergy Innovation |
Keywords
- Growth-defense tradeoffs
- Lignin
- Phenylpropanoid
- Secondary cell wall
- Transcription factor
- Transcriptional co-regulation