Anthocyanins are preferentially accumulated in certain tissues of particular species of citrus. A R2R3-MYB transcription factor (named Ruby1) has been well documented as an activator of citrus anthocyanin biosynthesis. In this study, we characterized CsMYB3, a transcriptional repressor that regulates anthocyanin biosynthesis in citrus. CsMYB3 was expressed in anthocyanin-pigmented tissues, and the expression was closely associated with that of Ruby1, which is a key anthocyanin activator. Overexpression of CsMYB3 in Arabidopsis resulted in a decrease in anthocyanins under nitrogen stress. Overexpression of CsMYB3 in the background of CsRuby1-overexpressing strawberry and Arabidopsis reduced the anthocyanin accumulation level. Transient promoter activation assays revealed that CsMYB3 could repress the activation capacity of the complex formed by CsRuby1/CsbHLH1 for the anthocyanin biosynthetic genes. Moreover, CsMYB3 could be transcriptionally activated by CsRuby1 via promoter binding, thus forming an 'activator-and-repressor' loop to regulate anthocyanin biosynthesis in citrus. This study shows that CsMYB3 plays a repressor role in the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis and proposes an 'activator-and-repressor' loop model constituted by CsRuby1 and CsMYB3 in the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in citrus.
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