DRP004269
Floral pigmentation pattern in Oriental hybrid lily (Lilium sp.) cultivar 'Dizzy' is caused by transcriptional regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis genes
Flower color patterns are the result of spatially and temporally restricted pigment deposition, and clarifying the mechanisms responsible for restricted pigment deposition is a topic of broad interest for both theoretical and practical reasons. An Oriental hybrid lily cultivar Dizzy develops red stripes along tepal midribs. To clarify the genetic bases contributing to the red stripes, most of genes related to anthocyanin accumulation were isolated from Dizzy tepals and their expression levels were compared between the red stripe region and white marginal region of tepals in this study. RNA-seq uncovered a complete set of genes necessary for anthocyanin biosynthesis and transport, including anthocyanidin 3-O-glucosyltransferase and glutathione S-transferase. Most of these genes exhibited higher expression at the red stripe region than at the white region, suggesting that transcriptional regulation of these genes is mainly responsible for the spatially restricted anthocyanin deposition in Dizzy tepals. Subgroup 6 R2R3-MYB is a major factor regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis: RNA-seq clarified three subgroup 6 R2R3-MYB genes expressed in Dizzy tepals, and MYB12 was predominantly expressed in them. MYB12 exhibited six-times higher expression at the red-pigmented region than at the white region. Thus, MYB12 is more likely involved in the regulation of the restricted anthocyanin deposition in Dizzy, although MYB12 is expressed at whole tepal region in many Oriental hybrid lily cultivars. Diversity of expression profiles among lily MYB12 was discussed