High-throughput Transcriptome Sequencing Reveals the Role of Anthocyanin Metabolism in Begonia semperflorens Under High Light Stress.

Begonia semperflorens is an ornamental perennial herb. The leaves of B. semperflorens turn red under increased light, which increases the ornamental value of the plant. The color of the leaves is determined by anthocyanin metabolism. In B. semperflorens leaves, anthocyanin metabolism is sensitive to external environmental conditions such as temperature, light and hormone levels. To explore this process in detail and to assess gene expression under high light stress, transcriptome analysis was performed by RNA sequencing using the sequencing-by-synthesis method. A total of 83 699 unigenes were isolated, and 51 754 unigenes were annotated using the NR, Swiss-Prot, KEGG, COG, KOG, GO and Pfam databases. Furthermore, many of the differentially expressed genes were related to factors associated with anthocyanin metabolism, which influences the expression of leaf color.