NAC Transcription Factors in Woody
Plants
Mª Belén Pascual, Fernando de la Torre, Rafael A. Cañas,
Francisco M. Cánovas, and Concepción Ávila
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
2 Common Structure of NAC Proteins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
2.1 The Conserved N-Terminal NAC Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
2.2 The Regulatory Region Is Placed in the C-Terminal Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
3 Classification and Evolution of the NAC Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
3.1 The Family of NAC Proteins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
3.2 Evolutionary Aspects of the NAC Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
4 Regulation and Mechanism of Action of NAC Proteins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
5 Outstanding Roles for NAC Proteins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
5.1 NAC Proteins Involved in Plant Stress Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
5.2 NAC Proteins Involved in Developmental Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
5.3 NAC Proteins Involved in Wood Formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Abstract NAC proteins are a family of plant-specific transcription factors (TFs) that
are involved in the regulation of diverse biological processes, including stress tolerance,
the formation and differentiation of vascular tissues and wood formation, the last of
which is particularly important in trees. Evolutionary studies conducted on NAC proteins
suggest a prominent role of these regulatory proteins in the adaptation and survival of
plants to land habitats. The characterization of this family of TFs in trees is scarce, and the
function of most of the family members remains unknown. However, current advances
in sequencing technology, genomic analysis and expression studies from different
woody plants have provided novel insights into the role of some of these TFs in trees.
Recent research activity has mostly focused on the NAC proteins involved in processes
Communicated by Francisco M. Cánovas
M. B. Pascual (*), F. de la Torre, R. A. Cañas, F. M. Cánovas, and C. Ávila
Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de
Málaga, Campus Universitario de Teatinos, Málaga, Spain
e-mail: bpascual@uma.es; fdelatorre@uma.es; rcanas@uma.es; canovas@uma.es;
cavila@uma.es
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
Progress in Botany (2019) 80: 195–222, DOI 10.1007/124_2018_19,
Published online: 11 May 2018
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