Multilayered regulation of seed oil biosynthesis: transcriptional networks, structural insights, and emerging mechanistic understanding

Seed oils, stored predominantly as triacylglycerols (TAGs), are essential energy reserves for plants and provide critical resources for human nutrition, renewable fuels, and industrial applications. Over the past few decades, substantial progress has been made in elucidating the enzyme pathways of fatty acid (FA) and TAG biosynthesis as well as the transcriptional networks that control seed oil accumulation. Classical regulators, including the LAFL transcription factors (LEC1, LEC2, ABI3, FUS3) and WRINKLED1 (WRI1), form the central framework linking seed development with oil biosynthesis. However, emerging evidence highlights additional layers of regulation that fine-tune oil biosynthesis. These include cross-family transcription factor interactions, post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications (e.g., phosphorylation and sumoylation), protein structural determinants of WRI1 function. Notably, recent discoveries such as the role of MYB56 upstream of LEC1-WRI1 regulatory module in Brassica napus, the phase separation-mediated repression of oil biosynthesis by MYB73, the bHLH7-PDF2 repression module, and ZFP2-dependent regulation of funiculus secondary cell wall lignification and seed loading, have reshaped our understanding of how seed oil biosynthesis is integrated with developmental and environmental signals. In this review, we highlight these recent advances which reveal new regulatory modules and mechanisms governing seed oil biosynthesis in plants. Furthermore, we provide perspectives on how integrating transcriptional, post-transcriptional, post-translational, structural, and phase separation-based regulation can open new opportunities for engineering seed oil content and composition.