title: Flower color modulations of Torenia hybrida by downregulation of chalcone synthase genes with RNA interference.
abstract: Suppression of biosynthetic genes involved in flower color formation is an important approach for obtaining target flower colors. Here we report that flower color of the garden plant Torenia hybrida was successfully modulated by RNA interference (RNAi) against a gene of chalcone synthase (CHS), a key enzyme for anthocyanin and flavonoid biosynthesis. By using each of the coding region and the 3'-untranslated region of the CHS mRNA as an RNAi target, exhaustive and gene-specific gene silencing were successfully induced, and the original blue flower color was modulated to white and pale colors, respectively. Our results indicate that RNAi is quite useful for modulations of flower colors of commercially important garden plants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. fukusaki@bio.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Ei-ichiro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fukusaki
authors.forename: Kengo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.forename: Shin'ichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kajiyama
authors.forename: Chung-Il
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003116:Color; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D035264:Flowers / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020868:Gene Silencing / Q000502:physiology; D024861:Genetic Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000502:physiology*; D015202:Protein Engineering / Q000379:methods; D034622:RNA Interference; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D000217:Acyltransferases; C020141:flavanone synthetase