Abstract
BackgroundRoses are famous ornamental plants worldwide. Floral coloration is one of the most prominent traits in roses and is mainly regulated through the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway. In this study, we investigated the key genes and metabolites of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway involved in color mutation in miniature roses. A comparative metabolome and transcriptome analysis was carried out on the Neptune King rose and its color mutant, Queen rose, at the blooming stage. Neptune King rose has light pink colored petals while Queen rose has deep pink colored petals.ResultA total of 190 flavonoid-related metabolites and 38,551 unique genes were identified. The contents of 45 flavonoid-related metabolites, and the expression of 15 genes participating in the flavonoid pathway, varied significantly between the two cultivars. Seven anthocyanins (cyanidin 3-O-glucosyl-malonylglucoside, cyanidin O-syringic acid, cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside, cyanidin 3-O-galactoside, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside, peonidin 3-O-glucoside chloride, and pelargonidin 3-O-glucoside) were found to be the major metabolites, with higher abundance in the Queen rose. Thirteen anthocyanin biosynthetic related genes showed an upregulation trend in the mutant flower, which may favor the higher levels of anthocyanins in the mutant. Besides, eight TRANSPARENT TESTA 12 genes were found upregulated in Queen rose, probably contributing to a high vacuolar sequestration of anthocyanins. Thirty transcription factors, including two MYB and one bHLH, were differentially expressed between the two cultivars.ConclusionsThis study provides important insights into major genes and metabolites of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway modulating flower coloration in miniature rose. The results will be conducive for manipulating the anthocyanin pathways in order to engineer novel miniature rose cultivars with specific colors.
Highlights
Flavonoids are the products of the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway which has been well characterized in Arabidopsis and petunia [7, 8]
Detailed information on the gene–metabolite pairs involved in flavonoid biosynthesis is listed in Table S8-1–S8-4, Supplementary Materials. These results indicate that several classic flower pigmentation-related genes were highly correlated with their corresponding metabolites, which are involved in flavonoid biosynthesis, thereby reconfirming the importance of flavonoid biosynthesis in flower color
The findings indicate that cyanidin O-syringic acid, cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside, cyanidin 3-O-galactoside, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside, peonidin 3-O-glucoside chloride, and pelargonidin 3-O-glucoside accumulated to a greater extent in mutant flowers
Summary
Floral coloration is one of the most prominent traits in roses and is mainly regulated through the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway. We investigated the key genes and metabolites of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway involved in color mutation in miniature roses. The floral color is the main attribute and is closely related to the distribution of pigment types [1]. Natural pigments such as flavonoids, carotenoids, betalains, and alkaloids are well known in flower color formation [2,3,4]. Flavonoids are the products of the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway which has been well characterized in Arabidopsis and petunia [7, 8]. Conserved structural genes have been identified in the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway, but their regulatory mechanisms vary across plant species [5, 7, 8, 11,12,13,14]
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