College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471000, People's Republic of China.
Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, and Key Laboratory of Potato Biology and Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, People's Republic of China; and College of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, People's Republic of China.
Funct Plant Biol. 2021 Dec;49(1):102-114. doi: 10.1071/FP21109.
Although the role of WRKY transcription factors (TFs) in colour formation has been reported in several species, their function in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) anthocyanin biosynthesis remains unclear. In this study, the potato WRKY gene StWRKY13 was isolated and characterised. Expression analysis revealed a significantly higher StWRKY13 expression in chromatic tubers than in yellow ones. Transient activation assays showed that StWRKY13 could enhance the role of StAN2 in promoting anthocyanin biosynthesis in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.). Over-expressing the StWRKY13 gene promoted anthocyanin biosynthesis in potato tubers. Further investigations indicated that StWRKY13 could interact with the StCHS, StF3H, StDFR, and StANS gene promoters and significantly enhance their activities. Our findings showed that StWRKY13 could promote anthocyanin biosynthesis by activating StCHS, StF3H, StDFR, and StANS transcription in potato tubers, thereby supporting the theoretical basis for anthocyanins formation in coloured potato tubers.
虽然 WRKY 转录因子（TFs）在几种物种的颜色形成中作用已被报道，但它们在马铃薯（Solanum tuberosum L.）花色苷生物合成中的功能仍不清楚。本研究中，我们分离并鉴定了马铃薯 WRKY 基因 StWRKY13。表达分析显示，在有色块茎中 StWRKY13 的表达明显高于黄色块茎。瞬时激活分析表明，StWRKY13 可以增强 StAN2 在促进烟草（Nicotiana tabacum L.）花色苷生物合成中的作用。过表达 StWRKY13 基因促进了马铃薯块茎中花色苷的生物合成。进一步的研究表明，StWRKY13 可以与 StCHS、StF3H、StDFR 和 StANS 基因启动子相互作用，并显著增强其活性。我们的研究结果表明，StWRKY13 可以通过激活马铃薯块茎中 StCHS、StF3H、StDFR 和 StANS 的转录来促进花色苷的生物合成，从而为有色马铃薯块茎中花色苷的形成提供了理论基础。
