This article comments on: Batyrshina ZS, Shavit R, Yaakov B, Bocobza S, Tzin V. 2022. The transcription factor gene TaMYB31 regulates the benzoxazinoid biosynthetic pathway in wheat. Journal of Experimental Botany73, 5634-5649. Benzoxazinoids (BXDs) are abundant indole-derived specialized metabolites in several monocot crop species, such as wheat, maize, and rye. They function in plant immunity against herbivorous arthropods and fungal pathogens, but also as iron chelators, in metal tolerance, and as allelochemicals. Although BXD biosynthetic pathways have been studied extensively and are well described, information about the transcriptional regulation of BXD biosynthesis is scarce. In the current issue of JXB, Batyrshina et al. (2022) identified the transcription factor gene TaMYB31 in the tetraploid wheat Triticum turgidum and verified its function as a component of BXD metabolism in the hexaploid wheat Triticum aestivum, where it regulates constitutive and stress-inducible BXD biosynthesis.