Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Plant Cell logoLink to The Plant Cell
. 1992 Oct;4(10):1229–1236. doi: 10.1105/tpc.4.10.1229

Regulation of Flavonoid Biosynthetic Genes in Germinating Arabidopsis Seedlings.

WL Kubasek 1, BW Shirley 1, A McKillop 1, HM Goodman 1, W Briggs 1, FM Ausubel 1
PMCID: PMC160210  PMID: 12297632

Abstract

Many higher plants, including Arabidopsis, transiently display purple anthocyanin pigments just after seed germination. We observed that steady state levels of mRNAs encoded by four flavonoid biosynthetic genes, PAL1 (encoding phenylalanine ammonia-lyase 1), CHS (encoding chalcone synthase), CHI (encoding chalcone isomerase), and DFR (encoding dihydroflavonol reductase), were temporally regulated, peaking in 3-day-old seedlings grown in continuous white light. Except for the case of PAL1 mRNA, mRNA levels for these flavonoid genes were very low in seedlings grown in darkness. Light induction studies using seedlings grown in darkness showed that PAL1 mRNA began to accumulate before CHS and CHI mRNAs, which, in turn, began to accumulate before DFR mRNA. This order of induction is the same as the order of the biosynthetic steps in flavonoid biosynthesis. Our results suggest that the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway is coordinately regulated by a developmental timing mechanism during germination. Blue light and UVB light induction experiments using red light- and dark-grown seedlings showed that the flavonoid biosynthetic genes are induced most effectively by UVB light and that blue light induction is mediated by a specific blue light receptor.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (2.6 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Church G. M., Gilbert W. Genomic sequencing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Apr;81(7):1991–1995. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.7.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dong X., Mindrinos M., Davis K. R., Ausubel F. M. Induction of Arabidopsis defense genes by virulent and avirulent Pseudomonas syringae strains and by a cloned avirulence gene. Plant Cell. 1991 Jan;3(1):61–72. doi: 10.1105/tpc.3.1.61. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Feinbaum R. L., Ausubel F. M. Transcriptional regulation of the Arabidopsis thaliana chalcone synthase gene. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 May;8(5):1985–1992. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.5.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Feinbaum R. L., Ausubel F. M. Transcriptional regulation of the Arabidopsis thaliana chalcone synthase gene. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 May;8(5):1985–1992. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.5.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Feinbaum R. L., Storz G., Ausubel F. M. High intensity and blue light regulated expression of chimeric chalcone synthase genes in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Mol Gen Genet. 1991 May;226(3):449–456. doi: 10.1007/BF00260658. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Feinberg A. P., Vogelstein B. A technique for radiolabeling DNA restriction endonuclease fragments to high specific activity. Anal Biochem. 1983 Jul 1;132(1):6–13. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(83)90418-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Karlin-Neumann G. A., Sun L., Tobin E. M. Expression of Light-Harvesting Chlorophyll a/b-Protein Genes Is Phytochrome-Regulated in Etiolated Arabidopsis thaliana Seedlings. Plant Physiol. 1988 Dec;88(4):1323–1331. doi: 10.1104/pp.88.4.1323. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Lamb C. J., Lawton M. A., Dron M., Dixon R. A. Signals and transduction mechanisms for activation of plant defenses against microbial attack. Cell. 1989 Jan 27;56(2):215–224. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90894-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Loake G. J., Choudhary A. D., Harrison M. J., Mavandad M., Lamb C. J., Dixon R. A. Phenylpropanoid pathway intermediates regulate transient expression of a chalcone synthase gene promoter. Plant Cell. 1991 Aug;3(8):829–840. doi: 10.1105/tpc.3.8.829. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Long S. R. Rhizobium-legume nodulation: life together in the underground. Cell. 1989 Jan 27;56(2):203–214. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90893-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Martin C., Prescott A., Mackay S., Bartlett J., Vrijlandt E. Control of anthocyanin biosynthesis in flowers of Antirrhinum majus. Plant J. 1991 Jul;1(1):37–49. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-313x.1991.00037.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Oelmüller R., Mohr H. Mode of coaction between blue/UV light and light absorbed by phytochrome in light-mediated anthocyanin formation in the milo (Sorghum vulgare Pers.) seedling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Sep;82(18):6124–6128. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.18.6124. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Ohl S., Hedrick S. A., Chory J., Lamb C. J. Functional properties of a phenylalanine ammonia-lyase promoter from Arabidopsis. Plant Cell. 1990 Sep;2(9):837–848. doi: 10.1105/tpc.2.9.837. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rabino I., Mancinelli A. L. Light, temperature, and anthocyanin production. Plant Physiol. 1986 Jul;81(3):922–924. doi: 10.1104/pp.81.3.922. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schmelzer E., Jahnen W., Hahlbrock K. In situ localization of light-induced chalcone synthase mRNA, chalcone synthase, and flavonoid end products in epidermal cells of parsley leaves. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 May;85(9):2989–2993. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.9.2989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Shirley B. W., Hanley S., Goodman H. M. Effects of ionizing radiation on a plant genome: analysis of two Arabidopsis transparent testa mutations. Plant Cell. 1992 Mar;4(3):333–347. doi: 10.1105/tpc.4.3.333. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sponga F., Deitzer G. F., Mancinelli A. L. Cryptochrome, Phytochrome, and the Photoregulation of Anthocyanin Production under Blue Light. Plant Physiol. 1986 Dec;82(4):952–955. doi: 10.1104/pp.82.4.952. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Taylor L. P., Briggs W. R. Genetic regulation and photocontrol of anthocyanin accumulation in maize seedlings. Plant Cell. 1990 Feb;2(2):115–127. doi: 10.1105/tpc.2.2.115. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Warpeha K. M., Kaufman L. S. Blue-Light Regulation of Epicotyl Elongation in Pisum sativum. Plant Physiol. 1989 Feb;89(2):544–548. doi: 10.1104/pp.89.2.544. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. van Tunen A. J., Koes R. E., Spelt C. E., van der Krol A. R., Stuitje A. R., Mol J. N. Cloning of the two chalcone flavanone isomerase genes from Petunia hybrida: coordinate, light-regulated and differential expression of flavonoid genes. EMBO J. 1988 May;7(5):1257–1263. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb02939.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Plant Cell are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES