AtMYB7 acts as a repressor of lignin biosynthesis in arabidopsis

Secondary cell wall is the most abundant biomass produced by plants. Plant secondary cell wall is composed of a complex mixture of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Lignin, a phenolic polymer that hinders the degradation of cell wall polysaccharides to simple sugars destined for fermentation to bioethanol. Cell wall biosynthesis pathway-specific biomass engineering offers an attractive ‘genetic pretreatment’ strategy to improve bioenergy feedstock. Recently, we found a transcription factor, MYB7, which is a transcriptional switch that may turns off the genes necessary for lignin biosynthesis. To gain insights into MYB7 mediated transcriptional regulation, we first established a dominant suppression system in Arabidopsis by expressing MYB7-SRDX. Then we used a transient transcriptional activation assay to confirm that MYB7 suppress the transcription of the lignin biosynthetic gene. Taken together, we conclude that MYB7 function as a repressor of the genes involved in the lignin biosynthesis.