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Photocontrol of differential gene expression and alterations in foliar anthocyanin accumulation: a comparative study using red and green forma Ocimum tenuiflorum

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Abstract

Anthocyanins impart red, purple and violet colour to many flowers and fruits, mainly to attract pollinators and seed dispersers, but their function and biosynthetic regulation in foliages of several plants are less studied. The red and green forma of Ocimum tenuiflorum differ in anthocyanin accumulation in leaves and provide an excellent system for exploring the course of its regulation. It was observed that red forma gradually changed to green upon transfer to a particular greenhouse with limited transmission of ultraviolet light (both UV-B and UV-A). The sequential monitoring of anthocyanin content confirmed positive correlation between visible and ultraviolet light intensity with leaf colour and antioxidant activities. An ultra-performance liquid chromatography method of <3.5 min was developed for rapid and precise quantification of anthocyanidins. Expressions of PAL, CHS and CHI were down-regulated by low light in both forma. The F3H and F3′H genes had reduced expression in both forma and were supported by reduced levels of cyanidin in red forma plants within greenhouse. The expression of late biosynthetic genes, DFR and LDOX, also plummeted within the greenhouse. The regulatory transcription factors bHLH and WD40 were severely down-regulated within the greenhouse suggesting that bHLH and WD40 control the expression of F3′H, DFR and LDOX to regulate the biosynthesis of anthocyanin pigments in leaves of O. tenuiflorum, whereas the expression of Myb remained almost unaffected.

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Abbreviations

bHLH:

Basic helix loop helix

CHI:

Chalcone isomerase

CHS:

Chalcone synthase

CIE:

Commission Internationale d’Eclairage

DFR:

Dihydro flavonol reductase

F3H:

Flavonone 3 hydroxylase

F3′H:

Flavonone 3′ hydroxylase

FRAP:

Ferric reducing antioxidant power assay

LATAMOS:

Land surface atmosphere and micrometeorological observational system

LDOX:

Leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase

MBW:

Myb-bHLH-WD40

MSA:

Multiple sequence alignment

PAL:

Phenylalanine ammonia lyase

qPCR:

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction

Q-Tof:

Quadrupole-time-of-flight

UPLC:

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Manoj Kumar of Department of Applied Mathematics, BIT-Mesra for providing the LATAMOS data, Mr. Sanjay Swain, Mr. Ashwani Singh and Mr. Dharmendra Singh of BIT-Mesra for excellent technical assistance. The work was supported, in part, by University Grants Commission of India [34-275\2008 SR], Ministry of Food Processing Industries, India [47/MFPI/R&D/2006/517], and Infrastructure Development Fund by Department of Agriculture, Government of Jharkhand [5/B.K.V/Misc/12/2001]. Fellowships were provided to PV by BIT-Mesra and IH by CSIR [9/554 (13) 2007-EMR-I].

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Author notes

  1. Pritesh Vyas

    Present address: Department of Biotechnology and Allied Sciences, Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women’s University, Jharna, Jaipur, 303007, India

  2. Inamul Haque

    Present address: Department of Botany, Derozio Memorial College, Rajarhat Road, P.O.: Rajarhat-Gopalpur, Kolkata, 700136, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, 835215, India

    Pritesh Vyas, Inamul Haque, Manish Kumar & Kunal Mukhopadhyay

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  1. Pritesh Vyas
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  2. Inamul Haque
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Correspondence to Kunal Mukhopadhyay.

Additional information

Communicated by J. Kovacik.

P. Vyas and I. Haque have contributed equally to this work.

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Vyas, P., Haque, I., Kumar, M. et al. Photocontrol of differential gene expression and alterations in foliar anthocyanin accumulation: a comparative study using red and green forma Ocimum tenuiflorum . Acta Physiol Plant 36, 2091–2102 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-014-1586-9

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