Hasan Md Mahmudul, Mia Md Sohel, Yang Jiazhen, Zeng Yawen, Yang Tao
Biotechnology and Germplasm Resources Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming, China.
Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, Bangladesh.
Front Plant Sci. 2025 Aug 29;16:1650803. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1650803. eCollection 2025.
Barley is not only a major food crop but also a medicinal plant which has considerable quantities of flavonoids. Among all flavonoids, anthocyanins play a crucial role in pigmentation, pollination, seed dispersal in plants. Anthocyanins also have antioxidant properties. Varietal differences significantly affect anthocyanins content in barley. Therefore, anthocyanins content are significantly higher in black barley than the blue one. To explore the molecular mechanisms of higher anthocyanins content in black barley, transcriptomic analysis was done to elucidate the involvement and expression of new genes in anthocyanins biosynthesis in two barley. In transcriptomic analyses, 10,579 new genes were identified, and 5,912 were functionally annotated. Twelve types of alternative splicing were found in 10,579 unigenes. Among 7,113 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 3,235 were significantly up-regulated. The existence of the significant protein-protein interaction and involvement of many DEGs in various biological, cellular and molecular processes might reveal their significant influence on plant growth, development, yield and anthocyanins biosynthesis. Involvement of DEGs in phenylpropanoid and flavonoids biosynthesis in the black barley might be due to their great involvement in flavonoid biosynthesis, including anthocyanins. Higher expression of , and genes of anthocyanins biosynthesis pathway in black barley than the blue one might reveal their great involvement in biosynthesis, accumulation and transformation of anthocyanins into the seed of black barley. Therefore, the current first report on DEGs in two types of barley, their expression, the unigenes and expression of major genes in anthocyanins biosynthesis pathway might guide plant biologists in reprogramming the anthocyanins biosynthesis pathway to develop barley with improved anthocyanins content by developing and transforming synthetic genetic circuits into black barley.
大麦不仅是一种主要的粮食作物，也是一种含有大量黄酮类化合物的药用植物。在所有黄酮类化合物中，花青素在植物的色素沉着、授粉、种子传播中起着关键作用。花青素还具有抗氧化特性。品种差异显著影响大麦中花青素的含量。因此，黑大麦中的花青素含量明显高于蓝大麦。为了探究黑大麦中花青素含量较高的分子机制，对两种大麦进行了转录组分析，以阐明花青素生物合成中新基因的参与情况和表达。在转录组分析中，鉴定出10579个新基因，其中5912个进行了功能注释。在10579个单基因中发现了12种可变剪接类型。在7113个差异表达基因（DEG）中，3235个显著上调。显著的蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用的存在以及许多DEG参与各种生物学、细胞和分子过程，可能揭示了它们对植物生长、发育、产量和花青素生物合成的重大影响。黑大麦中DEG参与苯丙烷类和黄酮类生物合成可能是由于它们大量参与黄酮类生物合成，包括花青素。黑大麦中花青素生物合成途径的、和基因的表达高于蓝大麦，这可能揭示了它们在黑大麦种子中花青素的生物合成、积累和转化中的重要作用。因此，目前关于两种大麦中DEG、它们的表达、单基因以及花青素生物合成途径中主要基因的表达的首次报道，可能会指导植物生物学家通过开发和将合成遗传电路转化到黑大麦中来重新编程花青素生物合成途径，以培育出花青素含量更高的大麦。
