Chen Mingkun, Yang Yue, Cao Xiaoyun, Wang Yu, Liang Xiaolong, Wei Jun, Xin Zhuanxia, Li Houhua
College of Landscape Architecture and Arts, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
J Agric Food Chem. 2025 Oct 1;73(39):24701-24712. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.5c05701. Epub 2025 Sep 22.
Anthocyanins are natural pigments that have attracted significant attention due to their broad-spectrum antioxidant, antimutagenic, and health-promoting properties. During fruit ripening, endogenous auxin levels decrease, while abscisic acid (ABA) and anthocyanin contents increase. However, the interaction between endogenous auxin and ABA and the molecular mechanisms regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis remain unclear. Here, we report that the auxin response factor MpARF4 plays a key role in anthocyanin synthesis in "" peel by regulating the catabolism of ABA. Transient overexpression assays and RT-qPCR demonstrated that overexpression significantly reduced ABA content in peel and inhibited anthocyanin synthesis. Virus-induced gene silencing experiments confirmed that silencing markedly promoted ABA accumulation and anthocyanin biosynthesis, indicating that negatively regulates both ABA and anthocyanin accumulation. The results of yeast single hybridization, electrophoretic mobility shift assays, and dual fluorescein tests showed that MpARF4 activates the expression of the ABA catabolism gene to reduce the level of ABA. The decreased level of ABA led to the inhibition of the expression of anthocyanin synthesis regulatory factors and , thereby affecting the biosynthesis of anthocyanin. Our research has revealed the mechanism by which auxin response factor regulate anthocyanin synthesis through controlling the ABA catabolism.
花青素是一类天然色素，因其具有广谱抗氧化、抗诱变和促进健康的特性而备受关注。在果实成熟过程中，内源生长素水平下降，而脱落酸（ABA）和花青素含量增加。然而，内源生长素与ABA之间的相互作用以及调控花青素生物合成的分子机制仍不清楚。在此，我们报道生长素响应因子MpARF4通过调节ABA的分解代谢在“”果皮花青素合成中起关键作用。瞬时过表达分析和RT-qPCR表明，过表达显著降低了果皮中ABA的含量并抑制了花青素的合成。病毒诱导的基因沉默实验证实，沉默显著促进了ABA的积累和花青素的生物合成，表明其对ABA和花青素的积累均具有负调控作用。酵母单杂交、电泳迁移率变动分析和双荧光素测试结果表明，MpARF4激活ABA分解代谢基因的表达以降低ABA水平。ABA水平的降低导致花青素合成调控因子和的表达受到抑制，从而影响花青素的生物合成。我们的研究揭示了生长素响应因子通过控制ABA分解代谢来调节花青素合成的机制。
