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Anthocyanin biosynthesis for cold and freezing stress tolerance and desirable color in Brassica rapa

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Abstract

Flavonoids are divided into several structural classes, including anthocyanins, which provide flower and leaf colors and other derivatives that play diverse roles in plant development and interactions with the environment. This study characterized four anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) genes of Brassica rapa, a structural gene of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway, and investigated their association with pigment formation, cold and freezing tolerance in B. rapa. Sequences of these genes were analyzed and compared with similar gene sequences from other species, and a high degree of homology with their respective functions was found. Organ-specific expression analysis revealed that these genes were only expressed in the colored portion of leaves of different lines of B. rapa. Conversely, B. rapa anthocyanidin synthase (BrANS) genes also showed responses to cold and freezing stress treatment in B. rapa. BrANSs were also shown to be regulated by two transcription factors, BrMYB2-2 and BrTT8, contrasting with anthocyanin accumulation and cold stress. Thus, the above results suggest the association of these genes with anthocyanin biosynthesis and cold and freezing stress tolerance and might be useful resources for development of cold-resistant Brassica crops with desirable colors as well.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Golden Seed Project (Center for Horticultural Seed Development, No. 213003-04-2-CG100), Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), Rural Development Administration (RDA), and Korea Forest Service (KFS).

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  1. Department of Horticulture, Sunchon National University, 413 Jungang-ro, Suncheon, Jeonnam, 540-950, Republic of Korea

    Nasar Uddin Ahmed, Jong-In Park, Hee-Jeong Jung & Ill-Sup Nou

  2. Department of Biology, College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 305-764, Republic of Korea

    Yoonkang Hur

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  1. Nasar Uddin Ahmed
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  2. Jong-In Park
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Correspondence to Ill-Sup Nou.

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Nasar Uddin Ahmed and Jong-In Park equally contributed to this work.

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Ahmed, N.U., Park, JI., Jung, HJ. et al. Anthocyanin biosynthesis for cold and freezing stress tolerance and desirable color in Brassica rapa . Funct Integr Genomics 15, 383–394 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-014-0427-7

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