Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis reveals key transcription factors regulating lignin biosynthesis in safflower hull.

Authors

Siyuan Liu, Wei Zhao, Yue Sun, Sha Liu, Pengkun Gong, Rui Li, Wenjie Xu, Yizhuo Hou, Lihua Hao, Yunpu Zheng, Yinshuai Tian

Published in

Plant physiology and biochemistry : PPB. Volume 238. Pages 111710. Sep 03, 2026. Epub Sep 03, 2026.

Abstract

Safflower has recently garnered increasing attention as a promising oil crop. The oil content of safflower achenes and the efficiency of subsequent oil extraction are significantly influenced by the hull/pericarp percentage (the ratio of the pericarp weight to the total achene weight). However, the genetic regulation mechanism controlling the hull development remains largely unexplored. In this study, we conducted phenotypic, metabolomic, and transcriptomic analyses on two safflower varieties with distinct hull percentage: normal hull (NH) and thin hull (TH). Our results revealed that the higher hull percentage in the NH was attributed to larger cell size and a thicker secondary cell wall (SCW) in the hypodermis. Metabolomic analysis showed that metabolites involved in lignin biosynthesis accumulated at higher levels during the early achene developmental stage in the NH. Transcriptomic data further indicated that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were enriched in the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway, with genes related to lignin biosynthesis exhibiting significantly higher expression levels in the NH variety than those in TH. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified the turquoise module as the most correlated gene group, and transcription factors CtNAC043, CtNAC073a, and CtMYB46 as key candidate regulators of lignin biosynthesis during safflower hull development. Overexpression of CtNAC043, CtNAC073a, and CtMYB46 in transgenic safflower hairy roots significantly increased lignin content. Moreover, the expression of lignin biosynthesis genes was induced by CtNAC043, CtNAC073a, and CtMYB46. Notably, CtNAC073a and CtMYB46 were upregulated in CtNAC043-overexpressing hairy roots. These findings provide insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying lignin biosynthesis during safflower hull development and offer a foundation for breeding safflower varieties with desired hull percentage.

PMID:
42702123
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Sep 2026.

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