Computational Molecular Biology 2025, Vol.15, No.1, 38-52 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/cmb 40 harmony. Take rapeseed as an example. When it gets cold, it doesn't rely on a single gene to survive. Instead, transcription factors like WRKY and bZIP work together (Luo et al., 2019) to jointly ensure that the seeds can germinate even in an unfriendly climate. The most "worried" ones are still the WRKY family, especially members like BnaWRKY56 and BnaWRKY60 (Ma et al., 2022). They have to deal with heavy metal pollution and saline-alkali stress at the same time. They almost have to rush wherever there is an incident. Interestingly, some transcription factors take an unconventional path, such as BnaMYB111L, which is a member of the R2R3-MYB family and specializes in regulating reactive oxygen species balance (Yao et al., 2019). Once a pathogen invasion is detected, it will trigger that "suicidal" defense mechanism-directly causing the infected cells to self-destruct to protect the entire plant. It sounds quite ruthless, but for plants, this is one of the means to save their lives. You might not expect that among the "heroes" behind rapeseed's drought resistance are some lncrnas that are not very prominent in daily life. Recent studies have found that when drought occurs, these long non-coding Rnas collaborate with transcription factors like BnaC07g44670D to initiate a set of mechanisms specifically for responding to drought. Even better, even after the drought ended and water was restored, this system continued to operate, somewhat like a plant's "memory"-as if it had remembered the stress it had experienced before. Such reactions can now be seen more clearly through genome-wide analysis. Some lncrnas directly regulate target genes, while others function by being embedded in more complex co-expression networks. But to say it thoroughly is far from enough. The lncRNA combinations initiated by each drought are quite different, and the mechanisms cannot be simply copied. Ultimately, these new discoveries have indeed provided us with a lot of inspiration, but to figure out exactly how these molecules "communicate" with each other, we still need to dig deeper. 3 Key Transcription Factors in Rapeseed Development 3.1 Auxin-related Transcription Factors When it comes to the growth regulation of rapeseed, auxin is definitely an indispensable role. It is like a global dispatcher, overseeing the entire process from germination to fruiting. However, it is the transcription factors responsible for responding to it that are actually "working" on the front line. For example, BnerF114a1, a member of the AP2/ERF family, mainly manages the terminal bud part-once it is activated, the plant will sprout more lateral branches and the number of corner fruits it bears will also increase significantly. However, if the environment deteriorates, such as encountering salt or alkali or drought, the plot will have to be written by someone else. At this point, it is the turn of WRKY46 (Ding et al., 2015). It not only regulates the level of auxin but also activates the ABA signaling pathway, helping plants grow strong lateral roots under stress conditions. One interesting point is that although all these transcription factors cannot bypass auxin, their division of labor is very clear: one is in charge of the branches and the other focuses on the root system. The boundaries are distinct, yet they cooperate very naturally. 3.2 Ethylene and cytokinin-responsive transcription factors The "interaction" among plant hormones is always quite interesting. Like ethylene and cytokinin, which seem to be doing their own thing on the surface, they often work together in the growth of rape. When encountering low temperatures, ethylene will join forces with H2O2, allowing the seed cell wall to "relax" so that the embryo can extend smoothly. What's more interesting are the transcription factors of the ERF family, such as BnerF114A1 (Lyu et al., 2022). Although they are ethylene response factors, they can regulate the distribution of auxin-as a result, the plants have more branches and plumper kerberries. However, these hormone signals do not act alone; they interweave into a complex network, taking into account everything from daily growth to coping with environmental stress. Sometimes the same transcription factor has to deal with several hormone signals simultaneously, which is indeed quite busy. 3.3 MYB and WRKY families in rapeseed growth When rapeseed is coping with environmental pressure, the transcription factors of the two major families, MYB and WRKY, are extremely busy. Take the MYB family as an example. BnaMYBL17 mainly focuses on frost resistance (Luo et al., 2023), and can precisely regulate the expression of those genes related to cold resistance. The most interesting one is BnMRD107 (Figure 1) (Li et al., 2021).
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