The Purple leaf (Pl) locus of rice: the Pl(w) allele has a complex organization and includes two genes encoding basic helix-loop-helix proteins involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis

The Purple leaf (Pl) locus of rice (Oryza sativa L.) affects regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in various plant tissues. The tissue-specific patterns of anthocyanin pigmentation, together with the syntenic relationship, indicate that the rice Pl locus may play a role in the anthocyanin pathway similar to the maize R/B loci. We isolated two cDNAs showing significant identity to the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins found in the maize R gene family. OSB1 appeared to be allelic to the previously isolated R homologue, Ra1, but showed a striking difference at the C-terminus because of a 2-bp deletion. Characterization of the corresponding genomic region revealed that the sequence identical to a 5'-portion of OSB2 existed approximately 10-kb downstream of the OSB1 coding region. OSB2 lacks a conserved C-terminal domain. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses using an F(2) population indicate that both genes co-segregate with the purple leaf phenotype. A transient complementation assay showed that the anthocyanin pathway is inducible by OSB1 or OSB2. These results suggest that the Pl(w) allele may be complex and composed of at least two genes encoding bHLH proteins.     

花青素转录因子调控机制及代谢工程研究进展

花青素是广泛存在于植物中的一类重要的类黄酮化合物, 在植物生长发育和人类营养保健方面具有重要价值。花青素的生物合成途径已经解析得比较清楚, 但花青素的代谢调控网络还在不断完善。调控花青素生物合成的转录因子主要包括MYB、bHLH和WD40三大类, 这些转录因子通过激活或抑制CHS、ANS和DFR等花青素途径关键结构基因的表达水平, 进而决定花青素积累的部位与水平。该文结合国内外花青素生物合成与转录调控方面的研究进展, 简要介绍了花青素的生物合成途径, 归纳总结了模式植物中花青素代谢调控的分子机理, 尤其是MYB、bHLH和WD40三类主要转录因子的调控机理, 以及这些转录因子在观赏植物和水果等经济作物花青素代谢工程中的应用。该文将为系统阐明花青素的转录调控机制和利用代谢工程改良花青素的相关研究提供有益参考。