Background
The objectives of this study were to reveal the anthocyanin biosynthesis metabolic pathway in white and purple flowers of
Salvia miltiorrhiza
using metabolomics and transcriptomics, to identify different anthocyanin metabolites, and to analyze the differentially expressed genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis.
Results
We analyzed the metabolomics and transcriptomics data of
S. miltiorrhiza
flowers. A total of 1994 differentially expressed genes and 84 flavonoid metabolites were identified between the white and purple flowers of
S. miltiorrhiza
. Integrated analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics showed that cyanidin 3,5-O-diglucoside, malvidin 3,5-diglucoside, and cyanidin 3-O-galactoside were mainly responsible for the purple flower color of
S. miltiorrhiza.
A total of 100 unigenes encoding 10 enzymes were identified as candidate genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis in
S. miltiorrhiza
flowers. Low expression of the
ANS
gene decreased the anthocyanin content but enhanced the accumulation of flavonoids in
S. miltiorrhiza
flowers.
Conclusions
Our results provide valuable information on the anthocyanin metabolites and the candidate genes involved in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathways in
S. miltiorrhiza
.