Flower Color Modification by Engineering of the Flavonoid Biosynthetic Pathway: Practical Perspectives

The status quo of flavonoid biosynthesis as it relates to flower color is reviewed together with a success in modifying flower color by genetic engineering. Flavonoids and their colored class compounds, anthocyanins, are major contributors to flower color. Many plant species synthesize limited kinds of flavonoids, and thus exhibit a limited range of flower color. Since genes regulating flavonoid biosynthesis are available, it is possible to alter flower color by overexpressing heterologous genes and/or down regulating endogenous genes. Transgenic carnations and a transgenic rose that accumulate delphinidin as a result of expressing a flavonoid 3′,5′-hydroxylase gene and have novel blue hued flowers have been commercialized. Transgenic Nierembergia accumulating pelargonidin, with novel pink flowers, has also been developed. Although it is possible to generate white, yellow, and pink-flowered torenia plants from blue cultivars by genetic engineering, field trial observations indicate difficulty in obtaining stable phenotypes.     

植物中甜菜色素的研究进展

甜菜色素是一类主要存在于石竹目植物中的天然植物色素,分为甜菜红素和甜菜黄素。甜菜色素不仅具有吸引昆虫授粉的作用,还可以作为一种重要的渗透调节物质和非酶促抗氧化剂来帮助植物抵抗逆境,维持植物体内正常的生理活动。甜菜色素生物合成途径独特,具有重要的医疗保健价值,目前已被广泛用于食品、药物和化妆品中。本文结合国内外最新研究进展,从理化性质、合成途径、生物学功能和应用价值等方面对甜菜色素进行了介绍,重点阐述了甜菜色素和花青素的关系以及光照对甜菜色素生物合成的影响,以期为进一步深入了解甜菜色素和开发利用甜菜色素提供参考依据。     

Light absorption patterns of intact Rosa flowers in relation to the flower colour

Absorption curves of fresh, intact petals from 18 rose cultivars and 2 species were measured and compared with visual evaluations of their colours and there was a reasonable correlation. The in vivo maxima of anthocyanin absorption were in the range of 520–560 nm. Five patterns of absorption spectrum in the visible region were recognized: (a) maximum range ca. 520–535 rim (red roses); (b) as (a) but low absorbance (pink roses); (c) absorption pattern varying with age of flowers; (d) absorption at long wavelengths in blue roses due to co-pigmentation of cyanin, flavonols; (e) absorption of carotenoids and anthocyanins together in yellow, orange or orange red flowers.     

Headspace ethylene accumulation effects on secondary metabolite production in Vaccinium pahalae cell culture

The influence of headspace ethylene on anthocyanin, anthocyanidin, and carotenoid accumulation was studied in suspension cultures of Vaccinium pahalae. Exogenous application of ethrel (an ethylene-releasing compound) significantly reduced growth and secondary metabolite production, whereas incorporation of 5.0 or 10.0 mg l^-1 CoCl₂ or NiCl₂ effectively reduced ethylene accumulation and improved product accumulation, but AgNO₃was toxic to cells. This study showed an overall negative impact of increased ethylene levels in the vessel headspace on phytochemical production in ohelo cell cultures.     

蓝亚麻花瓣中类黄酮化合物及代谢途径分析

花色是观赏植物重要的观赏性状之一,而类黄酮是其主要的呈色物质。该研究以蓝亚麻花瓣为研究对象,将蓝亚麻开花过程分为5个阶段,并用高效液相色谱—光电二极管阵列检测技术(HPLC-PAD)和高效液相色谱—电喷雾离子化—质谱连用技术(HPLC-ESI-MS)分析不同开花阶段花瓣中类黄酮化合物的成分和含量。结果表明:蓝亚麻花瓣中积累飞燕草素苷、矢车菊素苷和锦葵素苷,未检测到天竺葵素苷,其中以酰基化的飞燕草素苷为主要呈色物质;而总花青素苷含量在第2阶段达到最高。根据花青素苷终产物和类黄酮中间代谢产物推定了蓝亚麻花瓣中类黄酮代谢途径,其中以F3'5'H所引导的分支途径占优势,其主要原因可能是F3'5'H酶活高于F3'H。     

不同类型双色百合的花色形成分析

以3个花朵双色的亚洲百合品种('Black Eye'、'Pieton,和'Twosome')为试验材料,通过对不同部位(花被片上部和下部)的花色表型、色素成分和含量进行综合分析,解析不同类型双色百合的形成机理.结果表明:(1)于紫色花被片下部检测到矢车菊素3-O-β-芸香糖苷一种花青苷,且在花被片下部深紫色的'Blac...     

基于花青素代谢培育蓝色花卉的研究进展

花色是植物吸引昆虫传播花粉的主要因素,对于植物在自然界的生存必不可少,也是观赏植物最重要的性状之一。在蓬勃发展的花卉产业中,色彩各异花卉的培育,可以弥补自然花色的匮乏,但是令人垂涎的蓝色花比较难培育。花色的多样性主要是由花青素及其衍生物的种类和含量等因素决定的,飞燕草色素的合成是形成蓝色花的关键因素,许多植物体内缺少合成飞燕草色素的结构基因。近年来,利用基因工程技术培育蓝色花的研究也时有报道。文中以常见的观赏植物为例,基于花青素代谢调控,从影响飞燕草色素合成的关键因素和不同分子改良途径培育蓝色花等几个方面对植物花朵呈色的机制进行了综述,并展示不同分子育种策略可能在其他领域的应用,为其他植物或经济作物的色泽改良如彩色棉蓝色纤维的培育等提供参考和技术支持。     

Cinnamate and shikimate incorporation into 3′,4′- and 3′,4′,5′-hydroxy substituted anthocyanins: Are there alternative pathways?

The incorporation of shikimate-[¹⁴C] and cinnamate-[¹⁴C] into 3′,4′- and 3′,4′,5′-hydroxy substituted anthocyanins was studied in isolated petals of Petunia hybrida. According to the dilution values, the incorporation of shikimate-[¹⁴C] was about 3–6 times better than that of cinnamate-[¹⁴C]. However a comparison of the incorporation of the 2 precursors on a relative basis showed no significant differences in the relative proportions of the specific activities of the 3′,4′-dihydroxysubstituted cyanidin-3-monoglucoside and the 3′,4′,5′-trihydroxysubstituted delphinidin-3-monoglucoside. This result and the [¹⁴C]-incorporation behaviour of the 3′-methoxy-4′-hydroxysubstituted peonidin-3-monoglucoside do not support the hypothesis that there are alternative pathways of flavonoid biosynthesis.     

Structure-Dependent Photodegradation of Carotenoids Accelerated by Dimethyl Tetrasulfide under UVA Irradiation

Carotenoids are used in wide-ranging food applications, but they are susceptible to degradation by many factors including light. We examined the photodegradation of five kinds of carotenoids and three kinds of anthocyanins to clarify which structures of pigments were favorable to accelerated degradation by sulfides under UVA irradiation. Under UVA irradiation, crocetin and crocin were decomposed more rapidly in the presence of dimethyl tetrasulfide than in the absence of the sulfide, but not as rapidly as β-carotene, zeaxanthin and β-cryptoxanthin were. However, cyanidin was decomposed more slowly in the presence of sulfide than in the absence of sulfide. Moreover, the photodegradation of kuromanin and keracyanin was not affected by the addition of a sulfide. We also examined the mechanism for this accelerated degradation. Normal hexane was more favorable to the photodegradation of β-carotene than methanol and ethanol. The accelerated degradation was inhibited by free radical scavengers, but enhanced by the addition of deuterium oxide. These results suggest that conjugated double bonds were favorable to the accelerated photodegradation by sulfide and that this reaction was mediated by free radicals.     

欧报春（Primula vulgaris）不同花色与色素关系及花色遗传初步分析

为了掌握欧报春各花色遗传规律服务于良种生产,通过对欧报春各色花进行色素吸收光谱和薄层层析分析,进行不同花色杂交研究,分析了欧报春各色花所含色素类型及各花色遗传规律。结果显示欧报春群体含多种花色素,单株也可含有多种花色素,形成多变的粉色、红色及蓝色花。黄色深浅主要由类胡萝卜素含量决定。白色对粉色及黄色为隐性遗传,黄色、粉色为显性遗传并有数量遗传特征,黄色与粉色独立遗传。蓝色为多基因控制的隐性遗传,并具有数量遗传特征。     

蒙农红豆草不同花色表型及色素成分特征分析

蒙农红豆草不仅是良好的饲草作物,还可以用作庭院观赏及蜜源植物。该研究以蒙农红豆草浅色花瓣突变体与对照群体中的粉红色、紫红色花瓣为试验材料,通过对花瓣颜色的表型和色素种类及含量的综合分析,明确影响花色形成的主要物质。结果表明:（1）蒙农红豆草浅色花突变体与对照的粉红色花和紫红色花为3种不同的色系,根据黄度（b^*）和色相角（h°）将浅色花突变体的花色定义为黄白色花。（2）在3种花色中共检测到10种类黄酮和5种花青素,其中6种山奈酚衍生物、2种矮牵牛素衍生物、2种飞燕草素衍生物和1种锦葵素衍生物为首次在蒙农红豆草中报道;同时还发现山奈酚-3-芸香苷、山奈酚-3-葡萄糖苷和飞燕草素-3-羧基修饰芸香苷在3种花色中含量（36%～50%、21%～35%和27%～65%）最多。研究推测:芦丁、山奈酚-3-芸香苷-5-鼠李糖苷和山奈酚-3-p-香豆酰葡萄糖苷为影响蒙农红豆草花色变化的主要成分。     

To what extent is a breed-specific database necessary to differentiate meat from pasture-fed and stall-fed lambs using visible spectroscopy?

Carotenoid pigments signature in the fat using visible reflectance spectroscopy has shown high potential for distinguishing pasture-fed (P) from stall concentrate-fed (S) lamb carcasses. However, a recent study demonstrated a between-breed variability in the digestive and metabolic fate of carotenoids pigments. The present study was therefore designed to investigate the extent to which this between-breed variability may affect the reliability of diet authentication using visible spectroscopy of the fat. We used 1054 male lambs from three breeds (Romane (ROM), Ile-de-France (OIF) and Limousine (LIM)). The breed-feed breakdown was 148 P and 258 S ROM, 102 P and 92 S OIF and 168 P and 286 S LIM lambs. The reflectance spectrum of perirenal fat was measured at 24 h postmortem at wavelengths between 400 and 700 nm. We quantified light absorption in the 450 to 510 nm area by calculating a traceability index (AVMI_{450 to 510}) considered as an indicator of the carotenoid concentration in the fat (method 1) and we performed a multivariate analysis over the full set of reflectance data between 400 and 700 nm (method 2). The reliability of method 1 proved very variable across breeds, with a percentage of correctly classified lambs reaching 95.3%, 90.5% and 79.4% in ROM, LIM and OIF lambs, respectively. Despite these between-breeds differences, the threshold of the linear discriminant analysis performed on AVMI_{450 to 510} was fairly similar between breeds; when all the data for the three breeds were pooled, the threshold cut-off value was 224 units and the method correctly classified 90.2% of the 1054 lambs. Using the full range of reflectance data (method 2) enabled to significantly increase the proportion of correctly classified lambs for both OIF and LIM breeds, but not for ROM breed. It enabled to correctly classify 96.1%, 94.5% and 94.8% of the ROM, LIM and OIF lambs. The reliability of the discrimination was not significantly different when pooling all lambs for the three breeds than when using a breed-specific database (93.9% and 95.2%, respectively).     

HPLC-analysis of algal pigments: comparison of columns,column properties and eluents

The effects of columns (Nucleosil C₁₈ODS, MZ-PAH, YMC-PACK C₃₀), column properties (inner diameters of 4 mm, 3 mm and 2 mm, pore-width 10 nm and 30 nm) and eluents (methanol, acetonitrile, acetone, water) were tested on the separation of algal pigments. The length of columns was 250 mm and particle size was 5 μm. Flow rates and gradients were adjusted to optimize peak separation; remaining chromatographic conditions were kept constant. The resolution of chromatographic systems was tested with pigment standards and various algal cultures. Total flow rate and retention times decreased with decreasing inner diameter, whereas pressure, sensitivity and peak-width increased. Pore width had negligible effects on the chromatographic separation of pigments under the test conditions. Only with acetonitrile as eluent were all the taxonomically important pigments resolved adequately: zeaxanthin (Cyanophyceae), lutein (Chlorophyceae), fucoxanthin (Bacillariopyceae), alloxanthin (Cryptophyceae), peridinin (Dinophyceae).     

Unusual anthocyanins from the Epacridaceae

Cyanidin-3-xylosylarabinoside, cyanidin- and delphinidin-3-rhamnosylgalactoside and cyanidin-3-xylosylgalactoside have been identified during a survey     

4种李属彩叶植物色素含量与叶色参数的关系

以4种李属彩叶植物紫叶李、紫叶矮樱、黑杆樱李和美人梅4年生嫁接苗为试材,对其叶绿素、类胡萝卜素、花色素苷含量及叶色参数(L·、a·、b·)进行了测定分析.结果表明:(1)随着季节的变化, 4种李属彩叶植物色素含量表现出基本相似的波动趋势,并以黑杆樱李的花色素苷含量在季节间较为稳定且极显著高于其他3种植物(P＜0.01),而美人梅的叶绿素、类胡萝卜素含量在在季节间较为稳定且显著低于其余植物(P＜0.05); 4种植物中各色素含量比例不尽相同且随着季节而变化,但黑杆樱李的比值较稳定且花色素苷比例始终最高,叶片保持紫红色,而美人梅的各色素比值变化较大,叶片呈现紫红-绿-红的变化过程.(2)4种李属彩叶植物的叶色参数(L·、a·、b·)也随季节发生波动,并以黑杆樱李相对稳定,美人梅的变化幅度较大,而且各树种之间的a·和b·值差异分别达到显著水平(P＜0.05)和极显著水平(P<0.01).(3)4种植物叶片 a·值与叶绿素含量、花色素苷含量均呈显著或极显著的正相关性,而L·值和b·值与叶绿素含量、花色素苷含量、类胡萝卜素含量的相关性因树种而异.研究发现,4种李属彩叶植物的色素含量及其比值随季节发生波动的幅度不尽相同,叶片花色素苷含量比例的高-低-高变化使叶色呈现红-绿-红的过渡;花色素苷含量和叶绿素含量的高低决定着a·值大小,但它们并不是影响L·和b·值的主要因素.     

植物叶色形成调控机制研究进展

彩叶植物具有色彩鲜艳、观赏期长等特点,有助于提高城市绿化的观赏性.叶绿素、类胡萝卜素和花青素等天然色素的含量变化使叶片产生绿色、黄色、白色和紫红色等颜色,3种色素在光反应、响应生物和非生物胁迫中发挥重要作用.本文对影响叶绿素、类胡萝卜素和花青素生物合成途径遗传调控和外部环境因子综述,为解释叶片呈色机制提供理论基础.现有...