JA-mediated transcriptional regulation of secondary metabolism in medicinal plants

Plants produce a wide spectrum of secondary metabolites that play critical roles in plant-environment interactions and against biotic and abiotic stresses. Moreover, many secondary metabolites have pharmaceutical efficacy for a wide range of diseases (cancer, malaria, etc.). Controlled transcription of biosynthetic genes is one of the major mechanisms regulating secondary metabolism in plants. Several transcription factor families such as MYC, MYB, WRKY and AP2/ERF have been found to be involved in the regulation of secondary metabolism in different medicinal plants. In addition, the biosynthesis and proper accumulation of secondary metabolites are also induced by signaling molecule jasmonic acid (JA). This review provides an insight into JA signaling pathway and JA-mediated transcriptional regulation of secondary metabolism (vinblastine, nicotine, artemisinin, taxol and ginsenoside) in a range of medicinal plant species.