Elucidation of 3-deoxyanthdocyanin biosynthetic pathway and genetic engineering of novel flower color

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25660030
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Horticultural science
• Research Institution: Iwate Biotechnology Research Center
• Principal Investigator: Nishihara Masahiro 公益財団法人岩手生物工学研究センター, 園芸資源研究部, 研究部長 (20390883)
• Research Collaborator: YAMADA Eri ; FUJITA Kohei
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: フラボノイド / 3-デオキシアントシアニン / 花色 / シンニンギア / 遺伝子工学 / トレニア / タバコ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

3-deoxyanthocyanins are rare plant anthocyanins found in a limited plant species. We attempted to elucidate the 3-deoxyanthocyanin biosynthetic pathway in Sinningia cardinalis for genetic engineering of flower color using these rare pigments. To this end, the flowers of S. cardinalis were subjected to RNA-seq analysis and expression profiles of the related genes were acquired. Next, we analyzed a white-flowered torenia cultivar (Crown White) and identified three mutations including flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H) gene which suppression is prerequisite for accumulation of 3-deoxyanthocyanins. By the transformation of Crown White with related genes of Sinningia and sorghum, some transgenic torenia plants showed cream to light-pink flowers. LC-MS analysis indicated that successful accumulation of 3-deoxyanthocyanin (apigeninidin 5-O-glucoside) in the petals. These results demonstrated that genetic engineering of flower color by 3-deoxyanthocyanin pigments was possible in higher plants.

Free Research Field

植物分子育種学