Function analysis of anthocyanidin synthase from Morus alba L. by expression in bacteria and tobacco

摘要

BackgroundFlavonoids are a kind of important secondary metabolite and are commonly considered to provide protection to plants against stress and UV-B for a long time. Anthocyanidin synthase (ANS), which encodes a dioxygenase in the flavonoid pathway, catalyzes the conversion of leucoanthocyanidins to anthocyanidins, but there is no direct evidence indicating that it provides tolerance to stress in plants.ResultsTo investigate whether ANS can increase tolerance to abiotic stress,MaANSwas isolated from mulberry fruits and transformed into tobacco. Our results suggested that the bacterially expressed MaANS protein can convert dihydroquercetin to quercetin. Overexpression ofMaANSremarkably increased the accumulation of total flavonoids in transgenic lines and anthocyanins in corollas of flowers. Transgenic lines showed higher tolerance to NaCl and mannitol stress.ConclusionsThese results indicated that MaANS participates in various dioxygenase activities, and it can protect plants against abiotic stress by improving the ROS-scavenging ability. Thus, this alternative approach in crop breeding can be considered in the improvement of stress tolerance by enriching flavonoid production in plants.Include the following: How to cite: Li J, Zhao A, Yu M, et al. Function analysis of anthocyanidin synthase from Morus alba L. by expression in bacteria and tobacco. Electron J Biotechnol 2018;36.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejbt.2018.09.001.