Genome-Wide Transcriptome Analysis Reveals GRF Transcription Factors Involved in Methyl Jasmonate-Induced Flavonoid Biosynthesis in <i>Hedera helix</i>
Flavonoids are key bioactive compounds in plants that play important defense roles against abiotic stress and are involved in plant growth and development. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a significant growth regulator that promotes the accumulation of flavonoids in a variety of plants, but the effect of...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Plants |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/14/2094 |
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| Summary: | Flavonoids are key bioactive compounds in plants that play important defense roles against abiotic stress and are involved in plant growth and development. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a significant growth regulator that promotes the accumulation of flavonoids in a variety of plants, but the effect of MeJA in <i>Hedera helix</i> remains poorly understood. In the present study, the flavonoid content was significantly increased after MeJA treatment and peaked at 6 h post-treatment. A total of 31,931 genes were identified using transcriptome, and 6484 DEGs were identified at 6 h post-treatment. Through GO and KEGG enrichment analysis, it was shown that DEGs were primarily enriched in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathways. Based on the putative transcription factors derived from DEGs, growth-regulating factor (GRF), a transcription factor potentially linking MeJA signaling to flavonoid accumulation and participating in plant growth and stress responses, was further identified. A total of 20 Hh-GRFd genes were identified on the whole genome level and clustered into five phylogenetic groups with conserved subfamily characteristics. Abundant MeJA-responsive cis-elements were presented in the promoter regions of <i>HhGRF1</i>-<i>HhGRF20</i>. They exhibited a tissue-specific expression variation, and <i>HhGRF10</i> was dominantly expressed in leaves of <i>H. helix</i>. Notably, <i>HhGRF10</i> exhibited MeJA-induced expression that correlated temporally with flavonoid accumulation, suggesting that <i>HhGRF10</i> might play a potential role in promoting flavonoid biosynthesis, and overexpression and knockout assay substantiated this conclusion. The finding provides the first transcriptome-wide resource for flavonoid biosynthesis in <i>H. helix</i> and identifies the candidate GRF-mediated regulator for flavonoid accumulation. |
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| ISSN: | 2223-7747 |