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The ethylene signaling pathway has a negative impact on sucrose-induced anthocyanin accumulation in Arabidopsis

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Abstract

In an attempt to understand the complex regulatory mechanisms underlying sucrose-induced flavonoid biosynthesis, we examined several Arabidopsis mutants with altered anthocyanin accumulation. We determined that disruption of ethylene signaling results in a dramatic increase in sucrose-induced anthocyanin accumulation. Furthermore, we investigated why the ein2-1 (ethylene insensitive) Arabidopsis mutant accumulates higher levels of anthocyanin in response to sucrose than wild-type Arabidopsis. An increased level of PAP1 transcript in the ein2-1 mutant appears to be the main factor responsible for the increased accumulation of anthocyanin in response to sucrose. Therefore, our results indicate that the ethylene signaling pathway plays a negative role in sucrose-induced anthocyanin accumulation. We believe that the explanation for this observation may be related to the initiation of the senescence program in plants.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation (to Hojoung Lee, 2009; Grant #2009-0078046 & #2009-0065693) and in part by Technology Development Program for Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Republic of Korea (to Hojoung Lee; Grant #108066-3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, 1, 5-ka Anam-dong, Sungbuk-ku, Seoul, 136-713, Republic of Korea

    Yerim Kwon, Jee Eun Oh & Hojoung Lee

  2. Division of Applied Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, Republic of Korea

    Hana Noh & Suk-Whan Hong

  3. Graduate School of Biotechnology and Plant Metabolism Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Yong-In, 446-701, Republic of Korea

    Seong Hee Bhoo

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  1. Yerim Kwon
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Correspondence to Hojoung Lee.

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Y. Kwon and J. E. Oh contributed equally.

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10265_2010_354_MOESM1_ESM.jpg

Figure S1. The ein2-1 mutant has a high level of anthocyanin. Wild-type (black rectangle) and ein2-1 (white rectangle) mutant plants were germinated on MS medium with 50 mM sucrose. Four-day-old seedlings germinated in normal MS-agar medium (50 mM sucrose) were transferred to the designated medium supplemented with 0 or 200 mM mannitol, allowed to grow for 3 days, and then collected for anthocyanin measurement. Data represent the mean values of three independent experiments (n = 50). (JPG 189 kb)

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Kwon, Y., Oh, J.E., Noh, H. et al. The ethylene signaling pathway has a negative impact on sucrose-induced anthocyanin accumulation in Arabidopsis. J Plant Res 124, 193–200 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-010-0354-1

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