Key Laboratory of Silviculture and Conservation of the Ministry of Education, College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
Research Center of Deciduous Oaks, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Oct 12;23(20):12179. doi: 10.3390/ijms232012179.
is an economically important tree species and one of the dominant native oak species in China. Although its leaves typically turn yellow in autumn, we observed natural variants with red leaves. It is important to understand the mechanisms involved in leaf color variation in this species. Therefore, we compared a tree with yellow leaves and three variants with red leaves at different stages of senescence in order to determine the causes of natural variation. We found that the accumulation of anthocyanins such as cyanidin 3--glucoside and cyanidin 3--sambubiglycoside had a significant effect on leaf coloration. Gene expression analysis showed upregulation of almost all genes encoding enzymes involved in anthocyanin synthesis in the red-leaved variants during the early and main discoloration stages of senescence. These findings are consistent with the accumulation of anthocyanin in red variants. Furthermore, the variants showed significantly higher expression of transcription factors associated with anthocyanin synthesis, such as those encoded by genes and . Our findings provide new insights into the physiological and molecular mechanisms involved in autumn leaf coloration in , as well as provide genetic resources for further development and cultivation of valuable ornamental variants of this species.
是一种经济上重要的树种，也是中国本土栎属植物中的优势种之一。尽管其叶子通常在秋季变黄，但我们观察到了具有红叶的自然变异体。了解该物种叶片颜色变异的机制非常重要。因此，我们比较了一棵具有黄色叶子的树和三个具有不同衰老阶段红色叶子的变异体，以确定自然变异的原因。我们发现，花色素苷（如矢车菊素 3--葡萄糖苷和矢车菊素 3--桑布双糖苷）的积累对叶片颜色有显著影响。基因表达分析表明，在衰老的早期和主要变色阶段，红色变异体中几乎所有编码参与花色素苷合成的酶的基因都上调。这些发现与红色变异体中花色素苷的积累一致。此外，变异体表现出与花色素苷合成相关的转录因子的表达显著上调，例如由基因 和 编码的转录因子。我们的研究结果为 秋季叶片颜色形成的生理和分子机制提供了新的见解，并为该物种有价值的观赏变异体的进一步开发和培育提供了遗传资源。
