The role of transcription factor MYB53 from Arabidopsis thaliana in the regulated production of suberin

Suberin plays important roles in protecting plants against various stressors but the molecular mechanisms governing the regulated deposition of suberin are currently unclear. I provide evidence here that AtMYB53, AtMYB92, and AtMYB93 of the MYB-type transcription factor family are important regulators of suberin in root endodermis under non-stress conditions. I characterized an Arabidopsis steroid-inducible line of MYB53 showing significant suberin increase and a collection of loss-of-function mutants of MYB53/MYB92/MYB93 which exhibited major reductions of suberin in young roots, compared to wild-type. A suite of suberin biosynthetic genes were also positively regulated at the transcriptional level in MYB53 overexpression line and MYB53/MYB92/MYB93 loss-of-function lines.The identification of master regulators of suberin may provide the means to generate crops that are more stress resistant via enhancement of their suberized cell walls.