Transcriptome and Biochemical Analysis of a Flower Color Polymorphism in Silene littorea (Caryophyllaceae).

ABSTRACT: Flower color polymorphisms are widely used as model traits from genetics to ecology, yet determining the biochemical and molecular basis can be challenging. Anthocyanin-based flower color variations can be caused by at least 12 structural and three regulatory genes in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway (ABP). We use mRNA-Seq to simultaneously sequence and estimate expression of these candidate genes in nine samples of Silene littorea representing three color morphs (dark pink, light pink and white) across three developmental stages in hopes of identifying the cause of flower color variation. We identified 29 putative paralogs for the 15 candidate genes in the ABP. We assembled complete coding sequences for 16 structural loci and nine of ten regulatory loci. Among these 29 putative paralo

SUBMITTER: Casimiro-Soriguer I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4770042 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature