Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhongguancun Nandajie No,12, Haidian district, Beijing 100081, P, R, China.
BMC Genomics. 2014 Jun 4;15(1):426. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-426.
Anthocyanins are a group of flavonoid compounds. As a group of important secondary metabolites, they perform several key biological functions in plants. Anthocyanins also play beneficial health roles as potentially protective factors against cancer and heart disease. To elucidate the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway in Brassica rapa, we conducted comparative genomic analyses between Arabidopsis thaliana and B. rapa on a genome-wide level.
In total, we identified 73 genes in B. rapa as orthologs of 41 anthocyanin biosynthetic genes in A. thaliana. In B. rapa, the anthocyanin biosynthetic genes (ABGs) have expanded and most genes exist in more than one copy. The anthocyanin biosynthetic structural genes have expanded through whole genome and tandem duplication in B. rapa. More structural genes located upstream of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway have been retained than downstream. More negative regulatory genes are retained in the anthocyanin biosynthesis regulatory system of B. rapa.
These results will promote an understanding of the genetic mechanism of anthocyanin biosynthesis, as well as help the improvement of the nutritional quality of B. rapa through the breeding of high anthocyanin content varieties.
花色苷是一类黄酮类化合物。作为一类重要的次生代谢物，它们在植物中发挥着几种关键的生物学功能。花色苷还具有有益的健康作用，可作为预防癌症和心脏病的潜在保护因素。为了阐明芸薹属植物中的花色苷生物合成途径，我们在全基因组水平上对拟南芥和芸薹属植物进行了比较基因组分析。
我们总共鉴定了 73 个基因，它们是拟南芥 41 个花色苷生物合成基因的同源基因。在芸薹属植物中，花色苷生物合成基因（ABGs）发生了扩张，并且大多数基因存在于一个以上的拷贝中。花色苷生物合成结构基因通过全基因组和串联重复在芸薹属植物中扩张。花色苷生物合成途径上游保留的结构基因多于下游。花色苷生物合成调控系统中保留了更多的负调控基因。
这些结果将促进对花色苷生物合成遗传机制的理解，并有助于通过培育高花色苷含量品种来提高芸薹属植物的营养价值。
