Negative Regulation of Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis by a miR156-Targeted SPL Transcription Factor[W][OA]

By Jin-Ying Gou, F. F. Felippes, Chang-Jun Liu, Detlef Weigel, Jiawei Wang. The Plant Cell, 2011

854 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This work reveals that anthocyanin biosynthesis is coupled to floral transition by miR156-targeted SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) genes. SPL negatively regulates anthocyanin accumulation by directly preventing expression of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes through destabilization of a MYB-bHLH-WD40 transcriptional activation complex. Flavonoids are synthesized through an important metabolic pathway that leads to the production of diverse secondary metabolites, including anthocyanins, flavonols, flavones, and proanthocyanidins. Anthocyanins and flavonols are derived from Phe and share common precursors, dihydroflavonols, which are substrates for both flavonol synthase and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase. In the stems of Arabidopsis thaliana, anthocyanins accumulate in an acropetal manner, with the highest level at the junction between rosette and stem. We show here that this accumulation pattern is under the regulation of miR156-targeted SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) genes, which are deeply conserved and known to have important roles in regulating phase change and flowering. Increased miR156 activity promotes accumulation of anthocyanins, whereas reduced miR156 activity results in high levels of flavonols. We further provide evidence that at least one of the miR156 targets, SPL9, negatively regulates anthocyanin accumulation by directly preventing expression of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes through destabilization of a MYB-bHLH-WD40 transcriptional activation complex. Our results reveal a direct link between the transition to flowering and secondary metabolism and provide a potential target for manipulation of anthocyanin and flavonol content in plants.

Subfields: Molecular Biology, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/136c651b01194b62479d8d1ccd9137421a059dde

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In Molecular Biology

1. M. Schmid
2. Vincent Chiang
3. K. Davies
4. P. Huijser

In Plant Science

1. P. Huijser
2. M. Schmid
3. Vincent Chiang
4. K. Davies

Citations in the corpus

• Cooperative Regulation of Flavonoid and Lignin Biosynthesis in Plants (2021, background): “…of flavonoids or lignin synthesis, the potential regulation as shown with dotted lines. compete with TT8 for binding to PAP1, interfering with the integrity of the MYB-bHLH-WD40 complex to inhibit the expression of the DFR gene, thereby inhibiting the synthesis of anthocyanins (Gou et al., 2011).”
• The control of developmental phase transitions in plants (2011, background): “Furthermore, miR156-targeted SPL gene activity has recently been coupled to increasing flavonol to anthocyanin ratios within the developing Arabidopsis shoot (Gou et al., 2011).”
• A Conserved Network of Transcriptional Activators and Repressors Regulates Anthocyanin Pigmentation in Eudicots[C][W][OPEN] (2014, background): “…biosynthesis likely extend beyond the R3-MYBs, as the SBP-box protein SPL9 and various JA-ZIM domain proteins can also limit anthocyanin production in Arabidopsis by inhibiting the formation of active MBW complexes via binding to the R2R3-MYB and/or bHLH factors (Gou et al., 2011; Qi et al., 2011).”
• Anthocyanins: A Comprehensive Review of Their Chemical Properties and Health Effects on Cardiovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases (2020, background): “…factors can interfere with the formation of the MBW complex by contrasting the link between the several factors of complex; this is the case, for example, of SQUAMOSA-PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) which hinders the connection of the MYB factors with the other elements of the complex [145].”
• Plant phenolics: recent advances on their biosynthesis, genetics, and ecophysiology. (2013, background): “thaliana, the SQUAMOSA promoter binding protein (SBP)-box TF SBP-LIKE (SPL9) may physically disrupt formation of the activator MBW complex, with SPL itself the target of the general inhibitor microRNA miR156 [112].”