The phytohormone jasmonic acid (JA) and environmental factor light have the ability to synergistically affect the biosynthesis of anti-malarial drug artemisinin in traditional Chinese medicinal plant Artemisia annua. Previous studies have screened a JA-responsive R2R3-MYB transcription factor, AaJRM1, as a candidate gene for regulating artemisinin biosynthesis by transcriptome sequencing after JA treatment in light signals. However, the function and regulatory mechanism of AaJRM1 on artemisinin biosynthesis have not been illus. In this study, transcriptional level analysis showed that the expression of AaJRM1 was the most highly expressed in trichomes and rapidly responded to JA treatment, which was similar to the expression profiles of the specific genes belonging to artemisinin biosynthesis. The regulatory potential of artemisinin biosynthesis using transgenic A. annua plants indicated that overexpression and suppression of AaJRM1 increased and decreased the accumulation of artemisinin, respectively. The expression analysis revealed that the transcriptions of four core biosynthetic genes were significantly increased in AaJRM1-OE plants and obviously declined in AaJRM1-EAR transgenic lines compared with the wild-type control. Dual-Luciferase assays demonstrated that AaJRM1 significantly activated the transcription of artemisinin biosynthetic genes. Therefore, this study elucidated the molecular mechanism of JA-responsive AaJRM1 transcription factor regulating artemisinin biosynthesis, and provided a theoretical basis for the use of biotechnology to cultivate new germplasm with high artemisinin content.

植物激素茉莉酸（JA）和环境因子光具有协同影响中药植物青蒿抗疟药青蒿素生物合成的能力。先前的研究已经筛选出 JA 反应性 R2R3-MYB 转录因子 AaJRM1，作为在光信号中 JA 处理后通过转录组测序调节青蒿素生物合成的候选基因。但AaJRM1对青蒿素生物合成的作用及调控机制尚未阐明。在本研究中，转录水平分析显示AaJRM1的表达在毛状体中表达最高，对 JA 处理反应迅速，这与属于青蒿素生物合成的特定基因的表达谱相似。使用转基因青蒿植物对青蒿素生物合成的调节潜力表明，AaJRM1的过表达和抑制分别增加和减少了青蒿素的积累。表达分析表明，四个核心生物合成基因的转录在AaJRM1-OE植物中显着增加，在AaJRM1-EAR中明显下降转基因品系与野生型对照相比。双荧光素酶测定表明，AaJRM1 显着激活了青蒿素生物合成基因的转录。因此，本研究阐明了JA反应性AaJRM1转录因子调控青蒿素生物合成的分子机制，为利用生物技术培育高含量青蒿素新种质提供了理论依据。