ATAF NAC transcription factors: regulators of plant stress signaling

NAC proteins are one of the largest classes of plant-specific transcriptional regulators. Since the first NAC gene NO APICAL MERSITEM (NAM) was identified from petunia in 1996 1, NAC genes have been implicated in important plant developmental processes like boundary cell formation in shoot apical mersitems ^{1, 2,} secondary cell wall formation, ³ and lateral root development. ⁴ However, recent work indicates that NAC genes are also important regulators in stress responses. Nowhere is this more evident than the ATAF subgroup of NAC domain transcription factors. This mini-review aims at highlighting recent evidence of the importance of the ATAF-like NAC group in a diverse array of stress related signaling processes.