Over-expression of AeWRKY2 promotes oleanolic acid and hederagenin accumulation in Aralia elata.

Oleanolic acid (OA) and hederagenin from Aralia elata have important medicinal value due to their anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities. Transcription factors (TFs) can affect the production of active substances by regulating the expression of genes in metabolic pathways. In this study, a transcription factor AeWRKY2 was cloned and overexpressed in A.