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An apple B-box protein, MdCOL11, is involved in UV-B- and temperature-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis

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Abstract

Main conclusion

Our studies showed that an apple B-box protein, MdCOL11, the homolog of AtBBX22, is involved in UV-B- and temperature-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis in apple peel.

Anthocyanin is responsible for the red pigmentation in apple peel and a R2R3 MYB gene, MdMYBA/1/10, a homolog of MdMYBA, controls its accumulation. Arabidopsis PAP1 is under the control of a series of upstream factors involved in light signal transduction and photomorphogenesis, such as ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5) and B-box family (BBX) proteins. In this study, we identified and characterized the homolog of Arabidopsis BBX22 in apple, designated as MdCOL11. Overexpression of MdCOL11 in Arabidopsis enhanced the accumulation of anthocyanin. In apples, MdCOL11 was differentially expressed in all tissues, with the highest expression in petals and the lowest expression in the xylem. Transcripts of MdCOL11 noticeably accumulated at the ripening stage, concomitant with increases in the expressions of anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes. In an in vitro treatment experiment, MdCOL11 was upregulated in an ultra-violet (UV)-B- and temperature-dependent manner, together with the inductions of anthocyanin biosynthesis-related genes and anthocyanin accumulation in apple peel. Furthermore, a dual-luciferase assay indicated that (1) MdCOL11 regulated the expression of MdMYBA and (2) MdCOL11 was a target of MdHY5. Taken together, our results suggest that MdCOL11 is involved in MdHY5-mediated signal transduction and regulates anthocyanin accumulation in apple peel, which sheds new light on anthocyanin accumulation in apples.

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Abbreviations

ACE:

ACGT-containing element

ANS:

Anthocyanidin synthase

BBX:

B-box protein

EBG:

Early-stage biosynthesis gene

CHS:

Chalcone synthase

CHI:

Chalcone isomerase

COL:

CONSTANS-like

COP1:

CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1

DFR:

Dihydroflavonol 4-reductase

F3H:

Flavanone 3 β-hydroxylase

HY5:

ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5

LBG:

Late-stage biosynthetic gene

MBW:

MYB-bHLH-WD40/WDR complex

UFGT:

UDP-glucose:flavonoid-3-O-glucosyltransferase

FL:

White fluorescent light

LUC:

Firefly luciferase

RLUC:

Renilla luciferase

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Ting Peng (National Navel Orange Engineering Research Center, College of Navel Orange, Gannan Normal University, China) for her critical assessment and valuable suggestions. This study was partly supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 24-02214).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NARO Institute of Fruit Tree Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8605, Japan

    Songling Bai, Takanori Saito, Akiko Ito & Takaya Moriguchi

  2. NARO Institute of Fruit Tree Science, Morioka, Iwate, 020-0123, Japan

    Chikako Honda

  3. Hirosaki Industrial Research Institute, Aomori Prefectural Industrial Technology Research Center, Hirosaki, Aomori, 036-8363, Japan

    Yoshimichi Hatsuyama

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  1. Songling Bai
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  2. Takanori Saito
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  4. Yoshimichi Hatsuyama
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  5. Akiko Ito
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  6. Takaya Moriguchi
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Correspondence to Takaya Moriguchi.

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Bai, S., Saito, T., Honda, C. et al. An apple B-box protein, MdCOL11, is involved in UV-B- and temperature-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis. Planta 240, 1051–1062 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-014-2129-8

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