From Gene to Metabolite: Decoding the Transcriptional Regulatory Networks Controlling the Biosynthesis of Bioactive Compounds

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural and Bio-derived Molecules".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 77

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Guest Editor
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China
Interests: regulation of bioactive metabolites in ornamental/medicinal plants
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

High-value bioactive compounds are plant-specialized metabolites, providing basic nutritional constituents beyond their unique health benefits. For humans, they display various pharmacological anti-tumor, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cardiovascular disease activities. For plants, they provide abiotic and biotic stress resistance and enable plants to adapt to the environment. The biosynthesis of these bioactive compounds involves a complex transcriptional regulatory network between biosynthetic genes and regulatory elements, with emerging evidence suggesting an integral role for transcription factors. Transcriptional regulation is a critical biological process that allows the plant or organism to respond to a variety of intra- and extra-cellular signals, to define cell identity during development, to maintain it throughout its lifetime, and to coordinate cellular activity.

The present Special Issue welcomes original articles and reviews that focus the exploration of bioactive compound biosynthesis and transcriptional regulation. Studies focusing on how bioactive compounds are regulated by abiotic and biotic factors, exogenous elicitors, and different treatments through high-throughput strategies, including but not limited to genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, biochemical, molecular, and omics-based techniques, are also welcome.

Dr. Zhenming Yu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • bioactive compounds
  • transcriptional regulation
  • abiotic and biotic factor
  • exogenous elicitor

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 13763 KB  
Article
Comprehensive Identification and Abscisic Acid-Responsive Expression Profiling of NAC Transcription Factor in Triterpenoid Saponin in Hedera helix
by Xiaoji Deng, Feixiong Zheng, Zhangting Xu, Xiaoping Mao, Zhenming Yu and Xiaoxia Shen
Biomolecules 2025, 15(11), 1557; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15111557 - 6 Nov 2025
Abstract
Triterpenoid saponins are important secondary metabolites in plants. Abscisic acid (ABA), as one of the indispensable regulatory hormones in plants, promotes the accumulation of bioactive components in various plants, including triterpenoid saponins; however, its induced mechanism in Hedera helix remains unclear. In this [...] Read more.
Triterpenoid saponins are important secondary metabolites in plants. Abscisic acid (ABA), as one of the indispensable regulatory hormones in plants, promotes the accumulation of bioactive components in various plants, including triterpenoid saponins; however, its induced mechanism in Hedera helix remains unclear. In this study, the treatment of H. helix leaves with 100 μM ABA led to the identification of 7108 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) within 6 h post-treatment through transcriptomic and bioinformatic analysis. Enrichment analyses of GO terms and KEGG pathways indicated significant enrichment of DEGs in terpenoid backbone biosynthesis pathways. Analysis of DEGs revealed the NAC transcription factor, which is crucial for plant growth regulation, stress response, and secondary metabolite biosynthesis. A total of 182 HhNACs were identified at the genome-wide level, named HhNAC1 to HhNAC182 according to their chromosomal positions. Numerous ABA-responsive cis-regulatory elements (CREs) were presented at upstream promoters of HhNAC1 to HhNAC182. They demonstrated diversified tissue-specific expression profiling among stems, roots, and leaves of H. helix. Notably, HhNAC93 was predominantly expressed in H. helix leaves. Correlation analysis unveiled a markedly positive relationship among ABA-induced HhNAC93 expression, triterpenoid saponin accumulation, and the expression of essential saponin biosynthetic genes. HhNAC93 likely functions as a candidate regulator in triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis. These findings provide crucial evidence for further exploring the biological role of HhNAC transcription factor in H. helix. Full article
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