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Flower color is an important trait in plants. However, genes responsible for the white flower trait in Chinese cabbage are rarely reported. In this study, we constructed an F2 population derived from the Y640-288 (white flower) and Y641-87 (yellow flower) lines for the fine mapping of the white flower gene BrWF3 in Chinese cabbage. Genetic analysis indicated that BrWF3 was controlled by a single recessive gene. Using BSA-seq and KASP assays, BrWF3 was fine-mapped to an interval of 105.6 kb. Functional annotation, expression profiling, and sequence variation analyses confirmed that the AtPES2 homolog, Bra032957, was the most likely candidate gene for BrWF3. Carotenoid profiles and transmission electron microscopy analysis suggested that BrWF3 might participate in the production of xanthophyll esters (particularly violaxanthin esters), which in turn disrupt chromoplast development and the formation of plastoglobules (PGs). A SNP deletion in the third exon of BrWF3 caused the loss of protein function, and interfered with the normal assembly of PGs, which was associated with reduced expression levels of genes involved in carotenoid metabolism. Furthermore, we developed and validated the functional marker TXBH83 for BrWF3. Our results provide insight into the molecular mechanism underlying flower color pigmentation and reveal valuable information for marker-assisted selection (MAS) breeding in Chinese cabbage.

Flower color is an important trait in plants. However, genes responsible for the white flower trait in Chinese cabbage are rarely reported. In this study, we constructed an F2 population derived from the Y640-288 (white flower) and Y641-87 (yellow flower) lines for the fine mapping of the white flower gene BrWF3 in Chinese cabbage. Genetic analysis indicated that BrWF3 was controlled by a single recessive gene. Using BSA-seq and KASP assays, BrWF3 was fine-mapped to an interval of 105.6 kb. Functional annotation, expression profiling, and sequence variation analyses confirmed that the AtPES2 homolog, Bra032957 , was the most likely candidate gene for BrWF3. Carotenoid profiles and transmission electron microscopy analysis suggested that BrWF3 might participate in the production of xanthophyll esters (particularly violaxanthin esters), which in turn disrupt chromoplast development and the formation of plastoglobules (PGs). A SNP deletion in the third exon of BrWF3 caused the loss of protein function, and interfered with the normal assembly of PGs, which was associated with reduced expression levels of genes involved in carotenoid metabolism. Furthermore, we developed and validated the functional marker TXBH83 for BrWF3. Our results provide insight into the molecular mechanism underlying flower color pigmentation and reveal valuable information for marker-assisted selection (MAS) breeding in Chinese cabbage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calotropis gigantea has been well recognized as sand dune flora in the conservation aspect of coastal biota. However, little is known about the eco-geographical diversities in the phytochemical composition of white floral variety. The present study deals with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) phytochemical profiling in methanol extracts of white flower collected from seven different coastal locations across Coleroon valley. The intraspecific diversity was observed in 37 phytoconstituents whereas 23 common profiles were found in C. gigantea white. The most dominant classes were found as alcohols, terpenoids, fatty acid esters, aliphatic hydrocarbons, and amines. The major common peaks included n-hexadecanoic acid and glycerin (13.2%), A'-neogammacer-22(29)-en-3-ol, acetate, (3.beta., 21.beta.) (10.42%), 12-oleanen-3-yl acetate, (3.alpha.) - (10.28%), Hop-22(29)-en-3-ol, acetate, (3.beta.) - (9.83%), .beta.-Amyrin (7.53%), 3-ethoxy -1, 2, propane- diol (15.82%) and ethyl Oleate (7.07%). The location-specific compounds such as erythritol, tetrahydrocannabinol carbonic acid-D3-HFBAPFPOH- derivative (THC), 1-nitro-propanol, oleic acid, Urs-20-en-3-ol, (3.beta. 18.alpha.19.alpha), thiodiglycol, mercaptamine were obtained with major peaks from the respective locations (L1-L7). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first screening study in coastal white vegetation respective of various locations and the first report of a psychoactive compound THC with 98.28% peak area in gigantea species. From this preliminary approach, we found richness in diversified and common phytochemicals that may uncover the biological underpinnings of medicinal property at realistic ecological and geographical scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-thirds of the world’s population are at risk of deficiency in one or more essential mineral elements. The high concentrations of essential mineral elements in pulse seeds are fundamentally important to human and animal nutrition. In this study, seeds of 25 genotypes of faba bean (12 low-tannin and 13 normal-tannin genotypes) were evaluated for mineral nutrients and protein content in three locations in Western Canada during 2016–2017. Seed mineral concentrations were examined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the protein content was determined by Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Location and year (site-year) effects were significant for all studied minerals, with less effect for calcium (Ca) and protein content. Genotype by environment interactions were found to be small for magnesium (Mg), cobalt (Co), Ca, zinc (Zn), and protein content. Higher seed concentrations of Ca, manganese (Mn), Mg, and cadmium (Cd) were observed for low-tannin genotypes compared to tannin-containing genotypes. The protein content was 1.9% higher in low-tannin compared to tannin-containing genotypes. The high estimated heritability for concentrations of seed Mg, Ca, Mn, potassium (K), sulphur (S), and protein content in this species suggests that genetic improvement is possible for mineral elements.

Human consumption of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) sprouts and seedlings is not common but with the development of new white-flowering cultivars, this has become a possibility. Therefore, we investigated the effect of two blue/red light ratios (low blue (LB) and high blue (HB)) provided by light emitting diodes (LED) on glucosinolate (GLS), total carotenoid, chlorophyll a and b contents in sprouts and seedlings of white- and yellow-flowering rapeseed. Highest fresh weight biomass (FW) was produced by a yellow-flowering cultivar as sprouts and seedlings and by a white-flowering cultivar as seedlings. Diverse effects of HB light were seen for FW in sprouts, whereas HB light reduced FW in seedlings. Progoitrin decreased under HB light treatment in the seedlings. Different cultivar responses were found for all individual GLSs, total aliphatic, indole and total GLSs. Total carotenoid content was affected by light treatment in sprouts, and cultivar differences were ascribed to higher carotenoid contents in yellow-flowering cultivars for both sprouts and seedlings. In conclusion, the effects of blue/red light ratios were of minor importance for GLS and carotenoid content, whereas cultivar selection had the highest impact altogether. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flower color in Brassica spp. is an important trait and considered a major visual signal for insect-pollinated plants. In previous study, we isolated and identified two genes (BjPC1 and BjPC2) that control the flower color in B. juncea, and mapped BjPC1 to a 0.13-cM region. In this study, we report the fine-mapping and candidate analysis of BjPC2. We conducted whole-genome resequencing, using bulked segregant analysis (BSA) to determine the BjPC2 candidate intervals. Crossing, allelism testing, and repeated full-sib mating were used to generate XG3, a near isogenic line (NIL) population that segregated on the BjPC2 locus. Through a genome-wide comparison of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profiles between the yellow- and white-flowered bulks, a candidate interval for BjPC2 was identified on chromosome B04 (2.45 Mb). The BjPC2 linkage map was constructed with the newly developed simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers in the candidate interval to narrow the candidate BjPC2 region to 31-kb. Expression profiling and RNA-seq analysis partially confirmed that the AtPES2 homolog, BjuB027334 is the most promising candidate gene for BjPC2. Furthermore, analyses with high pressure liquid chromatography and transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that BjPC2 might be important in xanthophyll esterification, a process that limits xanthophyll degradation and increases sequestration. Overall, we mapped the BjPC2 to a 31-kb region on the B04 in B. juncea and identified BjuB027334 as a valuable candidate gene. Our results provide a basis for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the white-flowered trait and for molecular marker-assisted selection of flower color in B. juncea breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) variety ‘Jungmo 7003' is with early flowering and disease tolerance, which has white petals. ‘Jungmo 7003' was developed from the cross between ‘Tower' as female parent and ‘AB130' as male parent in 1983. The selection for advanced lines with white flower had been done by the pedigree method. A promising line, ‘83025-B-1-1-2', was selected and designated as the name of ‘Mokpo113'. It had good results from regional adaptation yield trials at four locations for two years from 2013 to 2014 and was released as the name of ‘Jungmo 7003'. ‘Jungmo 7003' has light-green and middle parted leaf, light-green stem and black seed coat. Since, the prominent very special trait of ‘Jungmo 7003' is white flower, it can be used for landscaping purposes created farm-art images. The flowering date of ‘Jungmo 7003' was 16th April and ripening date was 5th June. The yield of ‘Jungmo 7003' was 207 kg/10a, which was 6% lower than ‘Hanlayuchae' in regional adaptation trials. ‘Jungmo 7003' showed high resistance to screrotium. The oil content of ‘Jungmo 7003' was 43.8%. In fatty acid composition of ‘Jungmo 7003', oleic acid content is 68.4%, which is 1.2% higher than ‘Hanlayuchae'. ‘Jungmo 7003' will be adaptable to southwestern area including Jeonllanam-do, Jeollabuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do and Jeju island of Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inheritance of the rapeseed (Brassica napusL.) white flower has not been extensively studied previously at the gene level, although it is a unique and useful marker trait. In this paper, rapeseed white flower inheritance was investigated by crossing/backcrossing a white flower inbred line with two different yellow flower inbred lines. We found that the white flower was monogenic and the white flower character was controlled by a pair of incomplete dominant genes. More importantly, by employing amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) technologies, we have identified three AFLP markers and two SSR markers that were closely linked to the white flower gene. The closest markers, EA06MG08 and EA11MG12, were mapped to be located at the either side of the white flower gene at a distance of 3.0 and 3.2 cM, respectively. In order to use the markers for white flower breeding, EA11MG12 was converted to a sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker. Furthermore, BLAST searches revealed that the sequences of the three AFLP markers showed good collinearity with their homologs on theArabidopsischromosome 5, indicating that the homolog of rapeseed white flower locus might exist betweenAt5g49780andAt5g58230. Our results allow the formation of a gene map for the rapeseed white flower, providing further understanding about rapeseed white flower inheritance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Torenia (Torenia fournieri Lind.) is a model plant increasingly exploited in studies in various disciplines, including plant engineering, biochemistry, physiology, and ecology. Additionally, cultivars with different flower colors have been bred and made commercially available. Flower color in torenia is mainly attributed to the accumulation of anthocyanins, but the molecular mechanisms inducing flower color mutations in torenia have not been well elucidated. In this study, we therefore attempted to identify the cause of white coloration in torenia by comparing the white-flowered cultivar Crown White (CrW) with Crown Violet (CrV), a violet-flowered variety. Results In an expression analysis, no flavanone 3-hydroxylase (TfF3H) transcript accumulation was detected in CrW petals. Sequence analyses revealed that a novel long terminal repeat (LTR)- type retrotransposable element, designated as TORE1 (Torenia retrotransposon 1), is inserted into the 5'-upstream region of the TfF3H gene in CrW. A transient expression assay using torenia F3H promoters with or without TORE1 insertion showed that the TORE1 insertion substantially suppressed F3H promoter activity, suggesting that this insertion is responsible for the absence of F3H transcripts in white petals. Furthermore, a transformation experiment demonstrated that the introduction of a foreign gentian F3H cDNA, GtF3H, into CrW was able to recover pink-flower pigmentation, indicating that F3H deficiency is indeed the cause of the colorless flower phenotype in CrW. Detailed sequence analysis also identified deletion mutations in flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase (TfF3'H) and flavonoid 3',5'- hydroxylase (TfF3'H) genes, but these were not directly responsible for white coloration in this cultivar. Conclusions Taken together, a novel retrotransposable element, TORE1, inserted into the F3H 5'-upstream region is the cause of deficient F3H transcripts in white-flowered torenia, thereby leading to reduced petal anthocyanin levels. This is the first report of a retrotransposable element involved in flower color mutation in the genus Torenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Japanese cultivated gentian plants have naturally blue flowers, but some white-flowered cultivars are being bred through the utilization of spontaneous mutants. To determine the molecular basis of white coloration in gentian flowers, we compared two white-flowered cultivars Homoi and Polano White to a blue-flowered cultivar Maciry using biochemical and molecular approaches. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses showed that flavone levels in cv. Polano White were only about one-half the amounts measured in the other two cultivars, while anthocyanins were absent in the two white-flowered cultivars compared to cv. Maciry in which high levels accumulated. Northern blot analysis of 10 flavonoid biosynthetic structural genes, previously reported to be temporally regulated in cv. Maciry showed that cv. Homoi lacked transcripts for the anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) gene while cv. Polano White had decreased expressions for ANS as well as for chalcone synthase (CHS), flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H), flavonoid 3′,5′-hydroxylase (F3′,5′H), dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), UDP-glucose:flavonoid 3-glucosyltransferase (3GT) and anthocyanin 5-aromatic acyltransferase (5AT). Southern blot analysis confirmed the deficiency of one of two ANS loci in cv. Homoi. Transient expression of ANS in flower petals also strongly suggested that white flowers of cv. Homoi were derived from ANS mutation. Furthermore, analysis of stress-induced flower pigmentation suggested that rather than mutations in multiple structural genes being the cause, a defect in one or more regulatory factors controlling the later steps of flavonoid biosynthesis is responsible for white coloration in cv. Polano White. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Two-thirds of the world's population are at risk of deficiency in one or more essential mineral elements. The high concentrations of essential mineral elements in pulse seeds are fundamentally important to human and animal nutrition. In this study, seeds of 25 genotypes of faba bean (12 low-tannin and 13 normal-tannin genotypes) were evaluated for mineral nutrients and protein content in three locations in Western Canada during 2016–2017. Seed mineral concentrations were examined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the protein content was determined by Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Location and year (site-year) effects were significant for all studied minerals, with less effect for calcium (Ca) and protein content. Genotype by environment interactions were found to be small for magnesium (Mg), cobalt (Co), Ca, zinc (Zn), and protein content. Higher seed concentrations of Ca, manganese (Mn), Mg, and cadmium (Cd) were observed for low-tannin genotypes compared to tannin-containing genotypes. The protein content was 1.9% higher in low-tannin compared to tannin-containing genotypes. The high estimated heritability for concentrations of seed Mg, Ca, Mn, potassium (K), sulphur (S), and protein content in this species suggests that genetic improvement is possible for mineral elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tannin content and tanning power on haemoglobin were evaluated in a collection of faba-bean genotypes differing in seed and flower colour. All tannin-related measurements gave near-zero values for white-flowered genotypes: they showed intermediate values in brown and green-seeded genotypes, brown being lower in tannin values than green. Genetic analysis in the F[SUB3] of a half-diallel design confirmed the strong link between brown and green testa colour and intermediate tanning activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]