Abstract
BackgroundAnthocyanins are plant secondary metabolites with key roles in attracting insect pollinators and protecting against biotic and abiotic stresses. They have potential health-promoting effects as part of the human diet. Anthocyanin biosynthesis has been elucidated in many species, enabling the development of anthocyanin-enriched fruits, vegetables, and grains; however, few studies have investigated Brassica napus anthocyanin biosynthesis.ResultsWe developed a high-anthocyanin resynthesized B. napus line, Rs035, by crossing anthocyanin-rich B. rapa (A genome) and B. oleracea (C genome) lines, followed by chromosome doubling. We identified and characterized 73 and 58 anthocyanin biosynthesis genes in silico in the A and C genomes, respectively; these genes showed syntenic relationships with 41 genes in Arabidopsis thaliana and B. napus. Among the syntenic genes, twelve biosynthetic and six regulatory genes showed transgressively higher expression in Rs035, and eight structural genes and one regulatory gene showed additive expression. We identified three early-, four late-biosynthesis pathways, three transcriptional regulator genes, and one transporter as putative candidates enhancing anthocyanin accumulation in Rs035. Principal component analysis and Pearson’s correlation coefficients corroborated the contribution of these genes to anthocyanin accumulation.ConclusionsOur study lays the foundation for producing high-anthocyanin B. napus cultivars. The resynthesized lines and the differentially expressed genes we have identified could be used to transfer the anthocyanin traits to other commercial rapeseed lines using molecular and conventional breeding.
Highlights
Anthocyanins are plant secondary metabolites with key roles in attracting insect pollinators and protecting against biotic and abiotic stresses
Anthocyanin-enriched B. napus lines were developed by hybridizing anthocyanin-rich varieties of B. rapa and B. oleracea
Variable numbers of anthocyanin genes are distributed across all chromosomes of the reconstituted B. napus lines, which were inherited from the A- and C-genome donor parents
Summary
Anthocyanins are plant secondary metabolites with key roles in attracting insect pollinators and protecting against biotic and abiotic stresses. They have potential health-promoting effects as part of the human diet. Anthocyanin biosynthesis has been elucidated in many species, enabling the development of anthocyanin-enriched fruits, vegetables, and grains; few studies have investigated Brassica napus anthocyanin biosynthesis. Anthocyanins belong to the flavonoid class of secondary metabolites These water-soluble pigments are widely distributed in plants, accumulating in the leaves, petals, sepals, and fruits to yield purple, red, and blue coloration [1, 2]. Anthocyanins attract insects for pollination and protect plants against biotic and abiotic stresses [3,4,5,6,7]. The leaves and edible flower buds and young stems of B. napus are consumed as vegetables
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