'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui' is a new cultivar of Prunus mume with cross-cultivar group characteristics. It has typical characteristics of cinnabar purple cultivar group and green calyx cultivar group. It has green calyx, white flower, and light purple xylem, but the mechanism remains unclear. In order to clarify the causes of its cross-cultivar group traits, the color phenotype, anthocyanin content and the expression levels of genes related to anthocyanin synthesis pathway of 'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui', 'Yuxi Zhusha' and 'Yuxi Bian Lü'e' were determined. It was found that the red degree of petals, sepals and fresh xylem in branches was positively correlated with the total anthocyanin content. MYBɑ1, MYB1, and bHLH3 were the key transcription factor genes that affected the redness of the three cultivars of flowers and xylem. The transcription factors further promoted the high expression of structural genes F3'H, DFR, ANS and UFGT, thereby promoting the production of red traits. Combined with phenotype, anthocyanin content and qRT-PCR results, it was speculated that the white color of petals of 'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui' were derived from the high expression of FLS, F3'5'H, LAR and ANR genes in other branches of cyanidin synthesis pathway, and the low expression of GST gene. The green color of sepals might be originated from the relatively low expression of F3'H, DFR and ANS genes. The red color of xylem might be derived from the high expression of ANS and UFGT genes. This study made a preliminary explanation for the characteristics of the cross-cultivar group of 'Zhizhang Guhong Chongcui', and provided a reference for molecular breeding of flower color and xylem color of Prunus mume.
Animals ; Anthocyanins ; DNA Shuffling ; Flowers/genetics* ; Porifera ; Prunus/genetics* ; Glutamine/analogs & derivatives* ; Plant Extracts

This paper aimed to investigate the effect of total flavonoids of buckwheat flower and leaf on myocardial cell apoptosis and Wnt/β-catenin/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ(PPARγ) pathway in arrhythmic rats. SD rats were randomly divided into a control group, a model group, a low-dose(20 mg·kg~(-1)) group of total flavonoids of buckwheat flower and leaf, a medium-dose(40 mg·kg~(-1)) group of total flavonoids of buckwheat flower and leaf, a high-dose(80 mg·kg~(-1)) group of total flavonoids of buckwheat flower and leaf, a propranolol hydrochloride(2 mg·kg~(-1)) group, with 12 rats in each group. Except the control group, rats in other groups were prepared as models of arrhythmia by sublingual injection of 1 mL·kg~(-1) of 0.002% aconitine. After grouping and intervention with drugs, the arrhythmia, myocardial cells apoptosis, myocardial tissue glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px), catalase(CAT), malondialdehyde(MDA), serum interleukin-6(IL-6), prostaglandin E2(PGE2) levels, myocardial tissue apoptosis, and Wnt/β-catenin/PPARγ pathway-related protein expression of rats in each group were measured. As compared with the control group, the arrhythmia score, the number of ventricular premature beats, ventricular fibrillation duration, myocardial cell apoptosis rate, MDA levels in myocardial tissues, serum IL-6 and PGE2 levels, Bax in myocardial tissues, and Wnt1 and β-catenin protein expression levels increased significantly in the model group, whereas the GSH-Px and CAT levels, and Bcl-2 and PPARγ protein expression levels in myocardial tissues reduced significantly. As compared with the model group, the arrhythmia score, the number of ventricular premature beats, ventricular fibrillation duration, myocardial cell apoptosis rate, MDA leve in myocardial tissues, serum IL-6 and PGE2 levels, Bax in myocardial tissues, and Wnt1 and β-catenin protein expression levels reduced in the drug intervention groups, whereas the GSH-Px and CAT levels and Bcl-2 and PPARγ protein expression levels in myocardial tissues increased. The groups of total flavonoids of buckwheat flower and leaf were in a dose-dependent manner. There was no significant difference in the levels of each index in rats between the propranolol hydrochloride group and the high-dose group of total flavonoids of buckwheat flower and leaf. The total flavonoids of buckwheat flower and leaf inhibit the activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway, up-regulate the expression of PPARγ, reduce oxidative stress and inflammatory damage in myocardial tissues of arrhythmic rats, reduce myocardial cell apoptosis, and improve the symptoms of arrhythmia in rats.
Rats ; Animals ; PPAR gamma/metabolism* ; Fagopyrum/genetics* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; beta Catenin/metabolism* ; Interleukin-6 ; Flavonoids/pharmacology* ; Propranolol/pharmacology* ; Ventricular Fibrillation ; Dinoprostone ; Wnt Signaling Pathway ; Plant Leaves/metabolism* ; Flowers/metabolism* ; Apoptosis ; Cardiac Complexes, Premature

Transcription factors, the proteins with special structures, can bind to specific sites and regulate specific expression of target genes. NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, CUC1/2) transcription factors, unique to plants, are composed of a conserved N-terminal domain and a highly variable C-terminal transcriptional activation domain. NAC transcription factors are involved in plant growth and development, responses to biotic and abiotic stresses and other processes, playing a regulatory role in flower development. In this paper, we reviewed the studies about NAC transcription factors in terms of discovery, structure, and regulatory roles in anther development, other floral organ development and flowering time. This review will provide a theoretical basis for deciphering the regulatory mechanism and improving the regulatory network of NAC transcription factors in flower development.
Flowers/genetics* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins/metabolism* ; Plants/metabolism* ; Transcription Factors/metabolism*

Brassica juncea is a yearly or biennial vegetable in Brassica of Cruciferae. The yield and quality of its product organs are affected by flowering time. WRKY proteins family can respond to biological and abiotic stresses, developmental regulation and signal transduction. WRKY75 is an important member of WRKY family which can regulate flowering, but the flowering regulation mechanism in B. juncea has not been reported. In this study, a gene BjuWRKY75 in B. juncea was cloned, and the encoded-protein belonged to the group Ⅱ of WRKY protein with highly conserved domain. BjuWRKY75 had the highest homology with BriWRKY75 of Brassica nigra. The relative expression level of BjuWRKY75 in flowers was significantly higher than that in leaves and stems, and it was expressed stably in leaves. BjuWRKY75 protein was localized in the nucleus and interacted with the promoter of the flowering integrator BjuFT, which contained the W-box response element for the interaction between protein and DNA. Thus, it could transcriptionally activate the expression of the downstream genes. The overexpression of BjuWRKY75 in Arabidopsis led to earlier flowering significantly. In conclusion, BjuWRKY75 could directly target the promoter of BjuFT and accelerate flowering. These results may facilitate further study on the regulation of flowering molecules of BjuWRKY75.
Arabidopsis/genetics* ; Flowers/genetics* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Mustard Plant/genetics* ; Plant Proteins/metabolism* ; Promoter Regions, Genetic

Phenylalaninammo-nialyase (PAL) is a key enzyme in the synthesis of methyl benzoate - a plant aroma compound. In order to understand the function of this enzyme in the formation of fragrance in the scented Rhododendron species-Rhododendron fortunei, we cloned a gene encoding this enzyme and subsequently examined the gene expression patterns and the profile of enzyme activity during development in various tissues. The full length of RhPAL gene was cloned by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) techniques. The expression levels of RhPAL gene were measured by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and the amount of phenylalanine and cinnamic acid were assayed with LC-MS. The results showed that the ORF sequence of RhPAL gene amplified from the cDNA templates of flower buds had 2 145 bp, encoding 715 amino acids, and shared 90% homology to the PAL amino acid sequences from other species. qRT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of RhPAL in petals during flowering kept in rising even until the flowers wilted. The expression of RhPAL in pistil was much higher than that in stamen, while the expression in the younger leaves was higher than in old leaves. However, the expression level was relatively lower in petal and stamen compared to that in leaves. We also measured the PAL activity by Enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay in the petals of flowers at different flowering stages. The results showed that PAL activity reached the highest at the bud stage and then decreased gradually to the lowest when the flowers wilted, which followed a similar trend in the emission of the flower fragrance. The phenylalanine and cinnamic acid contents measured by LC-MS were highly correlated to the expression level of RhPAL in various tissues and at different flowering stages, implying that RhPAL plays an important role in the formation of the flower fragrance. This work may facilitate the breeding and improvement of new fragrant Rhododendron cultivars.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; DNA, Complementary ; Flowers/genetics* ; Rhododendron/genetics*

Flowering is a critical transitional stage during plant growth and development, and is closely related to seed production and crop yield. The flowering transition is regulated by complex genetic networks, whereas many flowering-related genes generate multiple transcripts through alternative splicing to regulate flowering time. This paper summarizes the molecular mechanisms of alternative splicing in regulating plant flowering from several perspectives, future research directions are also envisioned.
Alternative Splicing/genetics* ; Arabidopsis/metabolism* ; Arabidopsis Proteins/genetics* ; Flowers/genetics*

In order to study the regulation mechanism of secondary metabolites biosynthesis in Lonicera macranthoides, the key genes involved in the regulation of biosynthesis and the mechanism of differential metabolites were explored. In this study, high-throughput sequencing technology was used for transcriptome sequencing of L. macranthoides at different development stages. By using Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(LC-MS/MS) technology, the laws of qualitative, quantitative and synthetic accumulation of its metabolites were studied, and the key enzyme genes for the biosynthesis of phenolic acid and flavonoids were screened out according to the differentially expressed genes. A total of 111 differentially accumulate metabolites(DAM) and 6 653 differentially expressed genes(DGE) were obtained by metabonomics and transcriptomics analysis. The metabolites and key enzyme genes in the Erqing(KE) were significantly different from those in the Dabai(KD) and Yinhua(KY) stages. In the phenylalanine biosynthesis pathway, the ion abundance of chlorogenic acid, naringin, quercetin, rutin, coniferol and other metabolites decreased with the development of flowers, while the ion abundance of ferulic acid, coumarin and syringoside increased with the development of flowers. Key enzyme genes such as CHS, HCT, CCR, FLS and COMT positively regulate the downstream metabolites, while PAL, C4H and 4CL negatively regulate the downstream metabolites. This study provides candidate genes and theoretical basis for the further exploration of key enzymes in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and for the regulation of the accumulation of secondary metabolites in L. macranthoides by molecular biological methods.
Chromatography, Liquid ; Flowers/genetics* ; Lonicera/genetics* ; Metabolomics ; Proteomics ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Based on observing the cytological characteristics of the flower buds of the functional male sterile line (S13) and the fertile line (F142) in eggplant, it was found that the disintegration period of the annular cell clusters in S13 anther was 2 days later than that of F142, and the cells of stomiun tissue and tapetum in F142 disintegrated on the blooming day, while it did not happen in S13. The comparative transcriptomic analysis showed that there were 1 436 differential expression genes (DEGs) (651 up-regulated and 785 down-regulated) in anthers of F142 and S13 at 8, 5 days before flowering and flowering day. The significance analysis of GO enrichment indicated that there were more unigene clusters involved in single cell biological process, metabolism process and cell process, and more catalytic activity and binding function were involved in molecular functions. Through KEGG annotation we found that the common DEGs were mainly enriched in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, metabolic pathway, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, biosynthesis of amino acids, carbon metabolism and plant hormone signal transduction. The fifteen genes co-expression modules were identified from 16 465 selected genes by weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), three of which (Plum2, Royalblue and Bisque4 modules) were highly related to S13 during flower development. KEGG enrichment showed that the specific modules could be enriched in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, photosynthesis, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, α-linolenic acid metabolism, polysaccharide biosynthesis and metabolism, fatty acid degradation and the mutual transformation of pentose and glucuronic acid. These genes might play important roles during flower development of S13. It provided a reference for further study on the mechanism of anther dehiscence in eggplant.
Flowers/genetics* ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; Male ; Metabolic Networks and Pathways/genetics* ; Solanum melongena/genetics* ; Transcriptome/genetics*

Photoperiod plays an important role in transformation from vegetative growth to reproductive growth in plants. CONSTANS (CO), as a unique gene in the photoperiod pathway, responds to changes of day length to initiate flowering in the plant. In this study, the expression level of FaCONSTANS (FaCO) gene under long-day, short-day, continuous light and continuous darkness conditions was analyzed by real-time quantitative PCR. We constructed the over-expression vector p1300-FaCO and infected into Arabidopsis thaliana by Agrobacterium-mediated method. We constructed the silencing vector p1300-FaCO-RNAi and infected into Festuca arundinacea by Agrobacterium-mediated method. The expression of FaCO gene was regulated by photoperiod. The over-expression of FaCO promoted flowering in wild type of Arabidopsis thaliana under long day condition and rescued the late flowering phenotype in co-2 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana. Silencing FaCO gene in Festuca arundinacea by RNAi showed late-flowering phenotype or always kept in the vegetative growth stage. Our understanding the function of FaCO in flowering regulation will help further understand biological function of this gene in Festuca arundinacea.
Arabidopsis/metabolism* ; Arabidopsis Proteins/genetics* ; Festuca/metabolism* ; Flowers/genetics* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Photoperiod

In this study, 23 germplasm resources of Chrysanthemum morifolium used in medicine and tea were collected from Dabie Mountains and its surrounding producing areas, and the contents of 13 mineral elements were determined and compared. The thermal maps of correlation analysis, principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used for comprehensive evaluation. The results showed that the average content of each element in Ch. morifolium of different germplasm resources was: K>N>P>Mg>Ca>Fe>Mn>Zn>Cu>Ni>Cr>Pb>Cd, and the leaves were: K>N>Ca>Mg>P>Fe>Mn>Zn>Cr>Cu>Ni>Pb>Cd. There are rich contents of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and Fe in Ch. morifolium flowers and their leaves, among them, K element has the largest change range, while N, Ca, Fe, Mg and Zn elements have a larger change range. The absorption and accumulation of each element in the leaves of different germplasm resources varied greatly. The correlation analysis shows that there is a strong positive correlation between Ca element, Mg, Mn and Cd element.Principal component analysis in Ch. morifolium flowers characteristic elements for Mn, Cr, Cu, P, K, can be used as a Ch. morifolium resources to identify the characteristics of the elements, choose top five principal component(F1-F5) comprehensive evalua-tion of medicinal Ch. morifolium, scored in the top five varieties for Hangiu-Fuhuangju, Hangju-Xiaoyangju, Hangju-Sheyangju, Hangju-Dayanghua, Hangju-Subeiju,indicates that in terms of mineral elements, the five medicinal Ch. morifolium resources quality is better. The PCA score chart can divide 23 Ch. morifolium resources into 4 groups, and the cluster analysis heat map divides 23 Ch. morifolium resources into 5 groups. All the Ch. morifolium resources of the same type can be well clustered together, indicating that the difference in mineral element content of Ch. morifolium germplasm resources is closely related to genetic factors.
Chrysanthemum/genetics* ; Flowers/genetics* ; Minerals ; Plant Leaves ; Tea