Regulation of Apple Anthocyanin Synthesis is Associated with miR172

Recently, the apple germplasm improvement team of Zhengzhou Institute of Fruit Tree Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Plant and Food Research Institute (PFR) of New Zealand have collaborated to resolve the mechanism of miR172 negative regulation of apple anthocyanin synthesis, which provides a valuable reference for the application of miRNAs in apple horticultural trait improvement.

The results were published in Horticulture Research.

MicroRNA172 (miR172) targets AP2 genes through sequence complementation to regulate various developmental processes such as flowering, fruiting and nitrogen-fixing root nodule formation, but its role in regulating flavonoid biosynthesis has not been reported.

This study found that apple transgenic plants overexpressing miR172 showed reduced accumulation of anthocyanosides in leaves, stems and pericarp, and elucidated the mechanism of action of miR172 in inhibiting the biosynthesis of anthocyanosides and other flavonoids by suppressing the expression of AP2 transcription factor that positively regulates MYB10.

This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program and the Science and Technology Innovation Project of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.