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A putative functional MYB transcription factor induced by low temperature regulates anthocyanin biosynthesis in purple kale (Brassica Oleracea var. acephala f. tricolor)

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Abstract

The purple kale (Brassica Oleracea var. acephala f. tricolor) is a mutation in kales, giving the mutant phenotype of brilliant purple color in the interior. Total anthocyanin analysis showed that the amount of anthocyanins in the purple kale was up to 1.73 mg g−1 while no anthocyanin was detected in the white kale. To elucidate the molecular mechanism of the anthocyanin biosynthesis in the purple kale, we analyzed the expression of structural genes and some transcription factors associated with anthocyanin biosynthesis in the purple cultivar “Red Dove” and the white cultivar “White Dove”. The result showed that nearly all the anthocyanin biosynthetic genes showed higher expression levels in the purple cultivar than in the white cultivar, especially for DFR and ANS, they were barely detected in the white cultivar. Interestingly, the fact that a R2R3 MYB transcription factor named BoPAP1 was extremely up-regulated in the purple kale and induced by low temperature attracted our attention. Further sequence analysis showed that BoPAP1 shared high similarity with AtPAP1 and BoMYB1. In addition, the anthocyanin accumulation in the purple kale is strongly induced by the low temperature stress. The total anthocyanin contents in the purple kale under low temperature were about 50-fold higher than the plants grown in the greenhouse. The expression of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes C4H, F3H, DFR, ANS and UFGT were all enhanced under the low temperature. These evidences strongly suggest that BoPAP1 may play an important role in activating the anthocyanin structural genes for the abundant anthocyanin accumulation in the purple kale.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30871709 and 31000911) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. CDJXS11232244).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Room 313, Bioengineering College, Chongqing University, Campus A, 174 Shapingba Main Street, Chongqing, 400044, People’s Republic of China

    Bin Zhang, Yanjie Zhang, Yali Li & Shuang Zhou

  2. Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Room 204, Bioengineering College, Chongqing University, Campus A, 174 Shapingba Main Street, Chongqing, 400044, People’s Republic of China

    Zongli Hu & Guoping Chen

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  1. Bin Zhang
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  2. Zongli Hu
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  3. Yanjie Zhang
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  4. Yali Li
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  5. Shuang Zhou
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  6. Guoping Chen
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Correspondence to Guoping Chen.

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Communicated by C. Quiros.

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Zhang, B., Hu, Z., Zhang, Y. et al. A putative functional MYB transcription factor induced by low temperature regulates anthocyanin biosynthesis in purple kale (Brassica Oleracea var. acephala f. tricolor). Plant Cell Rep 31, 281–289 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-011-1162-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-011-1162-3

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