Biologia plantarum 59:99-105, 2015 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-014-0472-z

Brassinosteroid enhances cytokinin-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis seedlings

L. B. Yuan1,2, Z. H. Peng1,2, T. T. Zhi1,2, Z. Zho1,2, Y. Liu1,2, Q. Zhu3, X. Y. Xiong1,3, C. M. Ren1,2,*
1 Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Innovation and Utilization, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, P.R. China
2 College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, P.R. China
3 College of Horticulture and Landscape, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, P.R. China

To investigate whether brassinosteroids (BR) affects cytokinin (CK)-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis, seedlings of the Arabidopsis dwarf4 (dwf4) mutants including partially suppressing coi1 (psc1) and dwf4-102, which are defective in the BR biosynthesis, and the brassinosteroid-insensitive 1-4 (bri1-4) mutant defective in BR signalling were used for the analysis of CK-induced anthocyanin accumulation and the expression of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes and WD-repeat/Myb/bHLH transcription factors. The results show that the CK-induced anthocyanin accumulation was remarkably reduced in dwf4 and bri1-4 mutants, but distinctly increased in the wild type (WT) treated with BR. Moreover, the CK-induced expressions of the late anthocyanin biosynthetic genes including dihydroflavonol reductase, leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase, and UDP-glucose: flavonoid-3-O-glucosyl transferase were significantly reduced in bri1-4 and dwf4-102 mutants compared to WT. In addition, the expressions of transcription factors production of anthocyanin pigment 1 (PAP1), glabra 3 (GL3), and enhancer of glabra 3 (EGL3) were induced by CK in WT but not in the bri1-4 and dwf4-102 mutants. These results indicate that BR enhanced the CK-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis by up-regulating the late anthocyanin biosynthetic genes and this regulation might be mediated by the transcription factors PAP1, GL3, and EGL3.

Keywords: anthocyanin biosynthetic genes; BRI1; mutants; PSC1, DWF4; WD-repeat, Myb, bHLH transcription factors
Subjects: brassinosteroids; cytokinins; anthocyanin biosynthesis; anthocyanin accumulation; mutants; gene expression; transcription factor

Received: November 6, 2013; Revised: June 26, 2014; Accepted: July 8, 2014; Published: January 1, 2015Show citation

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Yuan, L.B., Peng, Z.H., Zhi, T.T., Zho, Z., Liu, Y., Zhu, Q., Xiong, X.Y., & Ren, C.M. (2015). Brassinosteroid enhances cytokinin-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis seedlings. Biologia plantarum, 59(1), 99-105. doi: 10.1007/s10535-014-0472-z.
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