Differential expressions of anthocyanin synthesis genes underlie flower color divergence in a sympatric Rhododendron sanguineum complex.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Rhododendron sanguineum complex is endemic to alpine mountains of northwest Yunnan and southeast Tibet of China. Varieties in this complex exhibit distinct flower colors even at the bud stage. However, the underlying molecular regulations for the flower color variation have not been well characterized. Here, we investigated this via measuring flower reflectance profiles and comparative transcriptome analyses on three coexisting varieties of the R. sanguineum complex, with yellow flush pink, bright crimson, and deep blackish crimson flowers respectively. We compared the expression levels of differentially-expressed-genes (DEGs) of the anthocyanin / flavonoid biosynthesis pathway using RNA-seq and qRT-PCR data. We performed clustering analysis based on transcriptome-de

SUBMITTER: Ye LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8082929 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature