Metabolomics Analysis Reveals the Role of Cyanidin Metabolism in Plumbago auriculataFlower Color 

 -  Journal of Plant Biolog, 64, p. 253-261, 2021 .
<br/><br/> Blue fowers, which are rare, have long been a focus for researchers engaged in colored fower breeding. In this study, Plumbago auriculata, a plant with blue fowers, and its white fower forma Plumbago auriculataf. albawere used as research materials. Flower color quantifcation, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM)observation of petal epidermal cells, and determination of the cell sap pH were carried out; moreover, metabolomic analysis was used to analyze the avonoid metabolites of both types of petals. The results showed that the fower color of P. auriculatawas bluish violet, and there was no signifcant diference in the epidermal cell distribution of the white and blue petals. The key substance that determined the bluish violet fower color was cyanidin-3-O-(6?-p-coumaroylglucoside)(Cy3-pC·G). Compared to the white petal cells, the blue petal cells exhibited up to 40 upregulated favonoid compounds that were copigments. Together with the signifcantly increased pH (5.92 ± 0.12)of the petal cell sap, these copigments afected the color presentation of Cy3-pC·G, causing the fnal petal color of P. auriculatato be bluish violet. The results of this study indicate that cyanidin is an important anthocyanidin in blue fowers, which provides new insights into the breeding of blue fowers. 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>CYANIDIN<br/>FLOWER COLOR<br/>METABOLOMICS<br/>PLUMBAGO AURICULATA