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    • Figure 1. 

      Phylogenetic and expression analysis of NAC TFs in A. sinensis. (a) Phylogenetic tree of A. sinensis NAC TFs. (b) Expression pattern of OsNAC7 subfamily.

    • Figure 2. 

      Subcellular localization of AsNAC043 in lower epidermal cells of N. benthamiana leaves.

    • Figure 3. 

      Characterization of WT and AsNAC043-overexpressing transgenic lines (AsNAC043-OE). (a) Phenotypes of WT and AsNAC043-OE in A. sinensis plants. OE1, OE2, and OE3 represent independent transgenic lines. (b) RT-qPCR analysis of AsNAC043 expression in WT and transgenic lines (OE1, OE2, OE3). (c) Lignin content in WT and transgenic plants. An asterisk indicates a significant difference (* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01).

    • Figure 4. 

      Differential gene expression and enrichment analysis of WT and AsNAC043-overexpressing transgenic lines (AsNAC043-OE). (a) Principal component analysis (PCA). (b) Sample correlation analysis. (c) Volcano plot of differential expressed genes. (d) Statistics of differentially expressed genes. (e) GO functional enrichment analysis. (f) KEGG pathway enrichment analysis.

    • Figure 5. 

      Effects of AsNAC043 overexpression on the expression of lignin biosynthesis-related genes and protein interaction network analysis. (a) Heatmap of key lignin biosynthesis gene expression in the WT and AsNAC043-OE lines. (b) Analysis of the Interaction network among proteins encoded by key genes in lignin biosynthesis. AsNAC043 (AS02G00175); AsPALs (AS06G01386, AS05G03296); AsCADs (AS01G00171, AS06G03766, AS01G01636); As4CLs (AS06G02531, AS07G02833); AsCCR (AS07G02794); AsCOMT (AS01G03183); AsCHI (AS03G00525); AsF5H (AS04G00561), and AsMYBs (AS09G01066, AS10G02150).