Abstract
Floral color plays a crucial role in plant life such as plant-pollinator interactions and modifying the abiotic environment of reproductive structures. In the current study, 123 gerbera accessions were divided into six color groups (white, yellow, orange, pink, red, and purple), based on Royal Horticultural Society Color Chart calibration and colorimeter measurement. Partial least squares discriminant analysis showed that the white group was mainly affected by L* value, a* value, C value, and total anthocyanin contents, while the yellow group was positively correlated with L* value, b* value, and total anthocyanin contents. Similarly, the orange group was mainly affected by b* value and total carotenoid contents, whereas the pink group was positively correlated with L* and h values. Furthermore, the red group was affected by L* value, a* value, C value, and total anthocyanin contents, whilst the purple group was mainly distributed by L* value, a* value, b* value, and total anthocyanin contents. Based on ‘Jin Xiang’ transcriptome data, 14,106 expressed sequence tag (EST)-SSR markers were identified and 48 pairs of primers (19 newly developed primers) were screened. Population genetic structure, neighbor-joining clustering, and principal coordinate analysis showed that 123 gerbera accessions could be divided into two groups. EST-SSR-based association analysis showed that 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, and 1 significant loci were related to L*, a*, b*, C, and h, total carotenoid, and total anthocyanin contents, respectively. These results provide an important reference for flower color classification and genetic improvement of gerbera.
Highlights
Flowering plants have evolved a wide range of flower kinds exhibiting a striking range of colors using a diversity of numerous pigments (Tanaka et al, 2008; Ng et al, 2018)
The hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and RHSCC analysis showed that 123 gerbera accessions could be classified into six color groups including white, yellow, orange, pink, red, and purple group (Figure 1 and Supplementary Table 1)
Based on colorimeter measurements and RHSCC, 811 chrysanthemum resources were divided into eight color groups: white, yellow, purple, light yellow, dark, red, orange, and brown (Hong et al, 2012)
Summary
Flowering plants have evolved a wide range of flower kinds exhibiting a striking range of colors using a diversity of numerous pigments (Tanaka et al, 2008; Ng et al, 2018). Petal colors appeal to flower visitors such as bees and birds which assist the efficient transfer of pollens between conspecific plants (Chittka et al, 1999; Shrestha et al, 2013; Abbas et al, 2017). Petal color indicates the expressed genes that provide researchers with a valuable pathway toward generating new varieties and understanding genetic interactions in the breeding program of ornamental plants (Ayala-Silva and Meerow, 2006). The variations in pigments in flowering plants are not well understood
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