Transcriptional control of flavonoid biosynthesis

Flavonoids are plant secondary polyphenolic metabolites and fulfil many vital biological functions, offering a valuable metabolic and genetic model for studying transcriptional control of gene expression. Arabidopsis thaliana mainly accumulates 3 types of flavonoids, including flavonols, anthocyanins, and proanthocyanidins (PAs). Flavonoid biosynthesis involves a multitude of well-characterized enzymatic and regulatory proteins. Three R2R3-MYB proteins (MYB11, MYB12, and MYB111) control flavonol biosynthesis via activating the early biosynthetic steps, whereas the production of anthocyanins and PAs requires the MYB-bHLH-WD40 (MBW) complex to activate the late biosynthetic genes. Additional regulators of flavonoid biosynthesis have recently come to light, which interact with R2R3-MYBs or bHLHs to organize or disrupt the formation of the MBW complex, leading to enhanced or compromised flavonoid production. This mini-review gives an overview of how these novel players modulate flavonoid metabolism and thus plant developmental processes and further proposes a fine-tuning mechanism to complete the complex regulatory network controlling flavonoid biosynthesis.