Metabolome and transcriptome profiling reveals anthocyanin contents and anthocyanin-related genes of chimeric leaves in Ananas comosus var. bracteatus

Abstract

Background Ananas comosus var. bracteatus is a colorful plant used as a cut flower or landscape ornamental. The unique foliage color of this plant includes both green and red leaves and, as a trait of interest, deserves investigation. In order to explore the pigments behind the red section of the chimeric leaves, the green and red parts of chimeric leaves of Ananas comosus var. bracteatus were sampled and analyzed at phenotypic, cellular and molecular levels in this study. Results The CIELAB results indicated that the a* values and L* values samples had significant differences between two parts. Freehand sections showed that anthocyanin presented limited accumulation in the green leaf tissues but obviously accumulation in the epidermal cells of red tissues. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were performed by RNA-seq and LC-ESI-MS/MS. Among the 508 identified metabolites, 10 kinds of anthocyanins were detected, with 6 significantly different between the two samples. The cyanidin-3,5-O-diglucoside content that accounts for nearly 95.6% in red samples was significantly higher than green samples. RNA-Seq analyses showed that 11 out of 40 anthocyanin-related genes were differentially expressed between the green and red samples. Transcriptome and metabolome correlations were determined by nine quadrant analyses, and 9 anthocyanin-related genes, including MYB5 and MYB82, were correlated with 7 anthocyanin-related metabolites in the third quadrant in which genes and metabolites showing consistent change. Particularly, the PCCs between these two MYB genes and cyanidin-3,5-O-diglucoside were above 0.95. Conclusion Phenotypic colors are closely related to the tissue structures of different leaf parts of Ananas comosus var. bracteatus, and two MYB transcription factors might contribute to differences of anthocyanin accumulation in two parts of Ananas comosus var. bracteatus chimeric leaves. This study lay a foundation for further researches on functions of MYBs in Ananas comosus var. bracteatus and provides new insights to anthocyanin accumulation in different parts of chimeric leaves.

Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of R2R3-MYB Provide Insight into Anthocyanin Biosynthesis Regulation Mechanism of Ananas comosus var. bracteatus

“…bracteatus based on our published RNA-seq data (BioProject accession no. PRJNA720713) [ 40 ]. The transcripts of eight AbR2R3-MYB genes were not detected in these nine samples, which suggested that they were pseudogenes or poorly expressed in these samples ( Figure 7 ).…”

The highly continuous reference genome of a leaf-chimeric red pineapple (Ananas comosus var. bracteatus f. tricolor) provides insights into elaboration of leaf color

“…Anthocyanin biosynthesis is a very important aspect of the colors of the fruit, leaves, and bracts of var. bracteatus ( Zhou et al 2021 ) and for stress response ( Sarma et al 1997 ; Gould and Quinn 1999 ; Ahmed et al 2015 ). The accumulation of anthocyanin results from phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and flavonoid biosynthesis, and the functions of certain structural genes determine the biosynthesis of anthocyanins.…”

“…Reports show that the accumulation of anthocyanins is closely related to resistance to biotic stress due to insects and diseases, and abiotic stress such as high light or low temperature ( Sarma et al 1997 ; Gould and Quinn 1999 ; Ahmed et al 2015 ). The decreased chlorophyll content and incomplete chloroplast development of the chimeric leaves of GL1 result in changes in photosynthesis ( Li et al 2017 ; Xue et al 2019 ; Mao et al 2020 ; Zhou et al 2021 ). Similar to most pineapple [ A. comosus (L.) Merr. ]…”

Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analyses Providing Insights into the Coloring Mechanism of Docynia delavayi

“…This variation can be used as important material for the development and cultivation of new varieties for D. delavayi . In recent years, the metabolome and transcriptome have been widely used to breed various plants by combining the gene data in the transcriptome with the phenotypic profiles in the metabolome as well as to enrich metabolic pathways and molecular interactions to screen for key metabolic pathways or genes and to carry out in-depth analyses and validation on metabolites [ 27 , 28 ].…”