Silencing of MusaANR1 gene reduces proanthocyanidin content in transgenic banana plants

Abstract

Manipulating flavonoid biosynthesis by genetic engineering in economically important crop plants is an emerging area of importance in plant biotechnology. Banana, which is the world most important fruit crop by production volumes, is rich in proanthocyanidins. We hypothesized that by downregulating the critical proanthocyanidin synthesis branch point enzyme, namely anthocyanidin reductase (MusaANR1) using intron-mediated hairpin RNA against its transcript, the levels of the end product of the other branch of phenylpropanoid pathway could be enhanced. Although, the transcript levels of MusaANR1 were successfully downregulated in transgenic banana plants, there was no significant elevation in the levels of anthocyanin in transgenic banana tissues.