Transcriptional regulation of seed storage protein genes inArabidopsisand cereals

Seed storage proteins (SSPs) are synthesized during development and the expression of their genes is under tight tissue-specific and temporal transcriptional regulation. In this review we summarize the current knowledge concerning the regulatory steps controlling SSP synthesis inArabidopsisand cereals, which involves the interaction ofcisregulatory elements with correspondingtrans-acting factors. In some cases, the regulation of SSP genes requires the concerted action of multiple transcription factors (TFs). There is an evolutionary conservation between the prolamins (the main group of SSPs in many cereal grains) and a major group of dicot seed albumins; this relates to both the regulatory elements and the TFs that are functionally exchangeable between the monocot and dicot species.