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

Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses identify key transcription factors that regulate lignin biosynthesis, influencing hull development in safflower varieties with distinct hull percentages.

• Why it matters: Understanding the genetic regulation of hull development is crucial for improving oil extraction efficiency in safflower, yet this mechanism remains largely unknown.
• What they did: Researchers performed phenotypic, metabolomic, and transcriptomic analyses on two safflower varieties, identifying differentially expressed genes and key transcription factors such as CtNAC043, CtNAC073a, and CtMYB46 involved in lignin biosynthesis.
• The result: Overexpression of these transcription factors increased lignin content and gene expression, providing molecular targets for breeding safflower with optimized hull traits to enhance oil yield.