Comprehensive Transcriptome-Metabolome Analysis and Evaluation of the Gene from that Controls the Differential Regulation of Anthocyanins in .

Chinese cabbage () is a major vegetable crop in China. The accumulation of anthocyanins improves the quality and flavor of crops and is beneficial for human health. There has been great research interest in breeding purple Chinese cabbage, for which it is necessary to study the key genes and mechanisms of anthocyanin accumulation. Through distant hybridization between purple mustard () and green Chinese cabbage (), purple Chinese cabbage plants were obtained. Furthermore, the gene was cloned in the purple Chinese cabbage plants, which came from purple mustard and may be responsible for the purple phenotype in purple Chinese cabbage plants. Through particle bombardment of isolated microspores from Chinese cabbage to transform the gene, the transformed purple Chinese cabbage plant was obtained, thus verifying the function of the gene. To further study the gene regulatory mechanism of anthocyanin accumulation in Chinese cabbage, the purple/green Chinese cabbage lines and purple/green mustard lines were subjected to transcriptome-metabolome analysis. Three stages (cotyledon, seedling, and large-leaf stages) of the purple/green Chinese cabbage lines and purple/green mustard lines were selected for analysis. The results indicated that the expression level of the transcription factor genes and may be induced by the gene and they play an important role in purple Chinese cabbage, and may be responsible for anthocyanin accumulation in mustard. Studying the structural genes of the purple Chinese cabbage showed that , , , , , , , , , , and were up-regulated in three growth periods. There were 22 and 10 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) in seedling and large-leaf stages between purple/green Chinese cabbage, respectively, and 12 and 14 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) in seedling and large-leaf stages between purple/green mustard, respectively, which may indicate that the gene from purple mustard greatly regulates anthocyanin accumulation in purple Chinese cabbage. This study provides a foundation for further elucidating anthocyanin regulation.