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Light affects anthocyanin biosynthesis via transcriptional regulation of COP1 in the ever-red leaves of crabapple M.cv. ‘Royalty’

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An Erratum to this article was published on 12 July 2016

Abstract

The rare ever-red crabapple (Malus spp.) leaves have importantly ornamental and medicinal traits, and their coloration is regulated by light conditions. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism of the red color formation via anthocyanin biosynthesis mediated by upstream regulators of light signaling under different light conditions. We selected the ever-red leaf cultivar, M.cv. ‘Royalty,’ to investigate the expression profile of various factors under dark conditions. The factors studied include the photoreceptors McphyA and McphyB, the ubiquitin E3 ligase McCOP1, the transcription factor McMYB10, the MBW complex, the main structural genes in anthocyanin biosynthesis, and the photomorphogenesis transcription factors McbZIP and McHY5. Our results indicated that under dark conditions McCOP1 expression was up-regulated, while the expression of other factors studied was down-regulated, leading to decreased expression of the structural genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis and reduction in anthocyanin content. Interestingly, when McCOP1 was silenced in the leaves, the expression of McMYB10, McbHLH, McWD40, McbZIP, and McHY5 was markedly up-regulated, resulting in the up-regulation of the structural genes including McF3H, McFLS, McDFR, and McUFGT and the subsequent accumulation of anthocyanins compared with leaves treated with empty vector. These data demonstrate that darkness negatively regulates the coloration of the ever-red leaves by regulating McCOP1 expression, further inhibiting the expression of McMYB10 and the structural genes in anthocyanin biosynthesis. These results may provide important insight into the breeding of color-leafed plants.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique and the Beijing Nursery Engineering Research Center for Fruit Crops for providing basic experimental conditions. We are grateful to all of the technicians at the BUA Crabapple Germplasm Resource Garden. Financial support was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.31200213), the Project of Construction of Innovative Teams and Teacher Career Development for Universities and Colleges Under Beijing Municipality (IDHT20140509), the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education Science and Technology Promotion Plan (PXM2014-014207-000081), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 program) (2011AA100204), and the Agricultural Science and Technology Project of Beijing Municipal Commission of Rural Affairs (No. 20150121).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Plant Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, 102206, China

      Yanfen Lu, Suxiao Hao, Na Liu, Yufen Bu, Shaolan Yang & Yuncong Yao

    2. Beijing Collaborative Innovation Center for Eco-environmental Improvement with Forestry and Fruit Trees, Beijing, 102206, China

      Yanfen Lu, Suxiao Hao, Na Liu, Yufen Bu, Shaolan Yang & Yuncong Yao

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    1. Yanfen Lu
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    Correspondence to Yuncong Yao.

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    Yanfen Lu, Suxiao Hao and Na Liu contributed equally to this work.

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    Lu, Y., Hao, S., Liu, N. et al. Light affects anthocyanin biosynthesis via transcriptional regulation of COP1 in the ever-red leaves of crabapple M.cv. ‘Royalty’. Braz. J. Bot 39, 659–667 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-016-0277-8

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