J Integr Plant Biol. ›› 2023, Vol. 65 ›› Issue (5): 1153-1169.DOI: 10.1111/jipb.13442

• Metabolism and Biochemistry • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Brassinosteroids fine‐tune secondary and primary sulfur metabolism through BZR1‐mediated transcriptional regulation

Mengyu Wang1, Congxi Cai2, Yubo Li1, Han Tao3, Fanliang Meng1, Bo Sun4, Huiying Miao1 and Qiaomei Wang1*   

  1. 1. Department of Horticulture, Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Growth, Development and Quality improvement, Ministry of Agriculture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China;
    2. School of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 221116, China;
    3. Key Laboratory of Biotechnology in Plant Protection of Ministry of Agriculture and Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China;
    4. College of Horticulture, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
    *Correspondence: Qiaomei Wang (qmwang@zju.edu.cn)
  • Received:2022-10-14 Accepted:2022-12-25 Online:2023-01-19 Published:2023-05-01

Abstract: For adaptation to ever‐changing environments, plants have evolved elaborate metabolic systems coupled to a regulatory network for optimal growth and defense. Regulation of plant secondary metabolic pathways such as glucosinolates (GSLs) by defense phytohormones in response to different stresses and nutrient deficiency has been intensively investigated, while how growth‐promoting hormone balances plant secondary and primary metabolism has been largely unexplored. Here, we found that growth‐promoting hormone brassinosteroid (BR) inhibits GSLs accumulation while enhancing biosynthesis of primary sulfur metabolites, including cysteine (Cys) and glutathione (GSH) both in Arabidopsis and Brassica crops, fine‐tuning secondary and primary sulfur metabolism to promote plant growth. Furthermore, we demonstrate that of BRASSINAZOLE RESISTANT 1 (BZR1), the central component of BR signaling, exerts distinct transcriptional inhibition regulation on indolic and aliphatic GSL via direct MYB51 dependent repression of indolic GSL biosynthesis, while exerting partial MYB29 dependent repression of aliphatic GSL biosynthesis. Additionally, BZR1 directly activates the transcription of APR1 and APR2 which encodes rate‐limiting enzyme adenosine 5′‐phosphosulfate reductases in the primary sulfur metabolic pathway. In summary, our findings indicate that BR inhibits the biosynthesis of GSLs to prioritize sulfur usage for primary metabolites under normal growth conditions. These findings expand our understanding of BR promoting plant growth from a metabolism perspective.

Key words: brassinosteroids, BZR1, glucosinolates, plant growth, primary sulfur metabolites, secondary sulfur metabolites

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