The arabidopsis bHLH transcription factor family

Fei Gao; Christian Dubos

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2023.11.022

The arabidopsis bHLH transcription factor family

Trends Plant Sci. 2023 Dec 23:S1360-1385(23)00381-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2023.11.022. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Fei Gao¹, Christian Dubos²

Affiliations

¹ College of Agronomy, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China; Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China. Electronic address: gaofei@hunau.edu.cn.
² IPSiM, University of Montpellier, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France. Electronic address: christian.dubos@inrae.fr.

PMID: 38143207
DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2023.11.022

Abstract

Basic helix-loop-helices (bHLHs) are present in all eukaryotes and form one of the largest families of transcription factors (TFs) found in plants. bHLHs function as transcriptional activators and/or repressors of genes involved in key processes involved in plant growth and development in interaction with the environment (e.g., stomata and root hair development, iron homeostasis, and response to heat and shade). Recent studies have improved our understanding of the functioning of bHLH TFs in complex regulatory networks where a series of post-translational modifications (PTMs) have critical roles in regulating their subcellular localization, DNA-binding capacity, transcriptional activity, and/or stability (e.g., protein-protein interactions, phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and sumoylation). Further elucidating the function and regulation of bHLHs will help further understanding of the biology of plants in general and for the development of new tools for crop improvement.

Keywords: basic helix-loop-helix; heat; iron; root hair; shade; stomata.

Publication types

Review