Integrated Phenotypic Physiology and Transcriptome Analysis Revealed the Molecular Genetic Basis of Anthocyanin Accumulation in Purple Pak-Choi

Abstract

Purple Pak-choi is rich in anthocyanins, which have both ornamental and edible health functions, and has been used more and more widely in facility cultivation. In order to further clarify the molecular mechanism of purple Pak-choi, two Pak-choi inbred lines (‘PQC’ and ‘HYYTC’) were selected for the determination of pigment content and transcriptome analysis, and the key genes controlling the formation of purple character in leaves of Pak-choi were discovered. The results of pigment determination showed that the anthocyanin content of ‘PQC’ was 0.29 mg/g, which was about 100 times than ‘HYYTC’; The chlorophyll content of ‘HYYTC’ was 2.25 mg/g, while ‘PQC’ only contained 1.05 mg/g. A total of 20 structural genes related to anthocyanin biosynthesis and 28 transcriptional regulatory genes were identified by transcriptome analysis. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to construct the weight network analysis map of 14 genes. The results showed that the cinnamate hydroxylase gene (BraA04002213, BrC4H3), flavanone-3- hydroxylase (BraA09004531, BrF3H1), and chalcone synthetase (BraA10002265, BrCHS1) were the core genes involved in the anthocyanin synthesis pathway of purple Pak-choi. The results identified the key genes controlling the formation of purple leaf traits, which laid a foundation for further analysis of the molecular mechanism of anthocyanin accumulation in purple Pak-choi and provided a theoretical basis for leaf color regulation.

Keywords

• Pak-choi
• purple
• phenotypic physiology
• transcriptome
• anthocyanin accumulation