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Endogenous post-transcriptional gene silencing of flavone synthase resulting in high accumulation of anthocyanins in black dahlia cultivars

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Abstract

Black color in flowers is a highly attractive trait in the floricultural industry, but its underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. This study was performed to identify the bases of the high accumulation of anthocyanidins in black cultivars and to determine whether the high accumulation of total anthocyanidins alone leads to the black appearance. Our approach was to compare black dahlia (Dahlia variabilis) cultivars with purple cultivars and a purple flowering mutant of a black cultivar, using pigment and molecular analyses. Black cultivars characteristically exhibited low lightness, high petal accumulation of cyanidin and total anthocyanidins without flavones, and marked suppression of flavone synthase (DvFNS) expression. A comparative study using black and purple cultivars revealed that neither the absence of flavones nor high accumulation of total anthocyanidins is solely sufficient for black appearance, but that cyanidin content in petals is also an important factor in the phenotype. A study comparing the black cultivar ‘Kokucho’ and its purple mutant showed that suppression of DvFNS abolishes the competition between anthocyanidin and flavone synthesis and leads to accumulation of cyanidin and total anthocyanidins that produce a black appearance. Surprisingly, in black cultivars the suppression of DvFNS occurred in a post-transcriptional manner, as determined by small RNA mapping.

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Abbreviations

ANS:

Anthocyanidin synthase

bHLH:

Basic helix–loop–helix

CHI:

Chalcone isomerase

CHS:

Chalcone synthase

DFR:

Dihydroflavonol 4-reductase

F3H:

Flavanone 3-hydroxylase

F3′H:

Flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase

FLS:

Flavonol synthase

FNS:

Flavone synthase

GST:

Glutathione S-transferase

GT:

Glucosyltransferase

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography

MT:

Malonyltransferase

PTGS:

Post-transcriptional gene silencing

RACE:

Rapid amplified cDNA end

siRNA:

Short interfering RNA

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Acknowledgments

We thank Yukihiro Fukuda for providing the ‘Kokucho’ mutant line.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Vegetable and Ornamental Horticulture, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Ayumi Deguchi, Sho Ohno, Munetaka Hosokawa & Motoaki Doi

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, Morioka, 020-8550, Japan

    Fumi Tatsuzawa

Authors
  1. Ayumi Deguchi
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  2. Sho Ohno
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  3. Munetaka Hosokawa
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  4. Fumi Tatsuzawa
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  5. Motoaki Doi
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Correspondence to Sho Ohno or Munetaka Hosokawa.

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Deguchi, A., Ohno, S., Hosokawa, M. et al. Endogenous post-transcriptional gene silencing of flavone synthase resulting in high accumulation of anthocyanins in black dahlia cultivars. Planta 237, 1325–1335 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-013-1848-6

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