Munetaka Hosokawa

A bHLH transcription factor, DvIVS, is involved in regulation of anthocyanin synthesis in dahlia (Dahlia variabilis)

Dahlias (Dahlia variabilis) exhibit a wide range of flower colours because of accumulation of anthocyanin and other flavonoids in their ray florets. Two lateral mutants were used that spontaneously occurred in ‘Michael J’ (MJW) which has yellow ray florets with orange variegation. MJOr, a bud mutant producing completely orange ray florets, accumulates anthocyanins, flavones, and butein, and MJY, another mutant producing completely yellow ray florets, accumulates flavones and butein. Reverse transcription–PCR analysis showed that expression of chalcone synthase 1 (DvCHS1), flavanone 3-hydroxylase (DvF3H), dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DvDFR), anthocyanidin synthase (DvANS), and DvIVS encoding a basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor were suppressed, whereas that of chalcone isomerase (DvCHI) and DvCHS2, another CHS with 69% nucleotide identity with DvCHS1, was not suppressed in the yellow ray florets of MJY. A 5.4 kb CACTA superfamily transposable element, transposable element of Dahlia variabilis 1 (Tdv1), was found in the fourth intron of the DvIVS gene of MJW and MJY, and footprints of Tdv1 were detected in the variegated flowers of MJW. It is shown that only one type of DvIVS gene was expressed in MJOr, whereas these plants are likely to have three types of the DvIVS gene. On the basis of these results, the mechanism regulating the formation of orange and yellow ray florets in dahlia is discussed.

Elimination of chrysanthemum stunt viroid from an infected chrysanthemum cultivar by shoot regeneration from a leaf primordium-free shoot apical meristem dome attached to a root tip

In this research we eliminated chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSVd) from a highly infected chrysanthemum cultivar using a newly established method. ‘Piato’ is one of the most difficult cultivars in which to obtain CSVd-free plants by conventional methods. Leaf primordium-free shoot apical meristems (LP-free SAMs) of ‘Piato’ plants were dissected and attached to CSVd-free chrysanthemum or cabbage root tips. As shown by nested-PCR, CSVd was not detected in some shoots regenerated on both types of root tip. The production rates of CSVd-free plants using chrysanthemum and cabbage root tips were 14% and 3%, respectively. Regeneration of plants from LP-free SAMs of chrysanthemum plants by attaching these SAMs to root tips is an efficient method of generating CSVd-free chrysanthemum plants.

Simultaneous post-transcriptional gene silencing of two different chalcone synthase genes resulting in pure white flowers in the octoploid dahlia

Garden dahlias (Dahlia variabilis) are autoallooctoploids with redundant genes producing wide color variations in flowers. There are no pure white dahlia cultivars, despite its long breeding history. However, the white areas of bicolor flower petals appear to be pure white. The objective of this experiment was to elucidate the mechanism by which the pure white color is expressed in the petals of some bicolor cultivars. A pigment analysis showed that no flavonoid derivatives were detected in the white areas of petals in a star-type cultivar ‘Yuino’ and the two seedling cultivars ‘OriW1’ and ‘OriW2’ borne from a red-white bicolor cultivar, ‘Orihime’, indicating that their white areas are pure white. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed that in the pure white areas, transcripts of two chalcone synthases (CHS), DvCHS1 and DvCHS2 which share 69% nucleotide similarity with each other, were barely detected. Premature mRNA of DvCHS1 and DvCHS2 were detected, indicating that these two CHS genes are silenced post-transcriptionally. RNA gel blot analysis revealed that small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) derived from CHSs were produced in these pure white areas. By high-throughput sequence analysis of small RNAs in the pure white areas with no mismatch acceptance, small RNAs were mapped to two alleles of DvCHS1 and two alleles of DvCHS2 expressed in ‘Yuino’ petals. Therefore, we concluded that simultaneous siRNA-mediated post-transcriptional gene silencing of redundant CHS genes results in the appearance of pure white color in dahlias.

Newly mutated putative-aminotransferase in nonpungent pepper (Capsicum annuum) results in biosynthesis of capsinoids, capsaicinoid analogues.

Capsinoids make up a group of nonpungent capsaicinoid analogues produced in Capsicum fruits. They have bioactivities similar to those of capsaicinoids such as suppression of fat accumulation and antioxidant activity. Because of their low pungency, they are more palatable ingredients in dietary supplements than capsaicinoids. We recently reported that capsinoid biosynthesis is caused by nonsense mutation in a putative aminotransferase gene (p-AMT) in a nonpungent cultivar CH-19 Sweet. Here we report on the screening of nonpungent germplasm that revealed a nonpungent cultivar Himo, which contains high levels of capsinoids. We have shown that Himo has a recessive allele of p-amt, which contains a mutation different from that of CH-19 Sweet. Sequence analysis of p-amt in Himo revealed that a single-nucleotide substitution results in one amino acid substitution from cysteine to arginine in the pyridoxal 5-phosphate binding domain. Genetic analysis using a cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence marker confirmed that the p-AMT genotype was precisely cosegregated with capsinoid biosynthesis and nonpungency. Himo will provide a new natural source of capsinoids.

Tissue culture-induced flower-color changes in Saintpaulia caused by excision of the transposon inserted in the flavonoid 3′, 5′ hydroxylase (F3′5′H) promoter

The variegated Saintpaulia cultivar Thamires (Saintpaulia sp.), which has pink petals with blue splotches, is generally maintained by leaf cuttings. In contrast, tissue culture-derived progeny of the cultivar showed not only a high percentage of mutants with solid-blue petals but also other solid-color variants, which have not been observed from leaf cuttings. Solid-color phenotypes were inherited stably by their progeny from tissue culture. Petals from each solid-color variant were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and shown to contain different proportions of three main anthocyanin derivatives: malvidin, peonidin, and pelargonidin. Analysis of flavonoid 3′, 5′-hydroxylase (F3′5′H) sequences showed no differences in the coding region among the variants and variegated individuals. However, a transposon belonging to the hAT superfamily was found in the promoter region of variegated individuals, and the presence of transposon-related insertions or deletions correlated with the observed flower-color phenotypes. Solid-blue flower mutants contained 8-base pair (bp) insertions (transposon excision footprints), while solid-pink mutants had 58- to 70-bp insertions, and purple- and deep-purple mutants had 21- and 24-bp deletions, respectively. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) analysis showed that F3′5′H expression levels correlated with insertions and deletions (indels) caused by hAT excision, resulting in flower-color differences. Our results showed that tissue culture of Saintpaulia ‘Thamires’ elicits transposon excision, which in turn alters F3′5′H expression levels and flower colors.

Natural infection of Chrysanthemum stunt viroid in dahlia plants

For the first time, Chrysanthemum stunt viroid (CSVd) was detected in commercial dahlia bulbs in Japan. CSVd was found in 77.2% of the tested plants (Dahlia spp.). In nucleotide sequence analysis, a CSVd variant was detected consisting of 354 nucleotides, which differed slightly from previously reported CSVd variants.

Novel loss-of-function putative aminotransferase alleles cause biosynthesis of capsinoids, nonpungent capsaicinoid analogues, in mildly pungent chili peppers (Capsicum chinense).

Capsinoids are a group of nonpungent capsaicinoid analogues produced in Capsicum fruits. They have similar bioactivities to capsaicinoids such as suppression of fat accumulation and antioxidant activity. They are more palatable ingredients in dietary supplements than capsaicinoids because of their low pungency. Previous studies on nonpungent Capsicum annuum cultivars showed that capsinoid biosynthesis is caused by loss-of-function putative aminotransferase (p-amt) alleles. This study showed that three mildly pungent cultivars of Capsicum chinense (Zavory Hot, Aji Dulce strain 2, and Belize Sweet) contain high levels of capsinoid. It was shown that these cultivars have novel p-amt alleles, which contain mutations that differ from those of C. annuum. Sequence analysis of p-amt in Belize Sweet revealed that a 5 bp insertion (TGGGC) results in a frameshift mutation. A transposable element (Tcc) was found in the p-amt of Zavory Hot and Aji Dulce strain 2. Tcc has features similar to those of the hAT transposon family. This was inserted in the fifth intron of Zavory Hot and in third intron of Aji Dulce strain 2. The p-amt alleles harboring Tcc cannot produce an active p-AMT. These mildly pungent cultivars will provide a new natural source of capsinoids.

Somaclonal Variation Is Induced De Novo via the Tissue Culture Process: A Study Quantifying Mutated Cells in Saintpaulia

Background The origin of somaclonal variation has not been questioned previously, i.e., “pre-existing mutations” in explants and “newly induced mutations” arising from the tissue culture process have not been distinguished. This is primarily because there has been no reliable molecular method for estimating or quantifying variation. Methodology/Principal Findings We adopted a petal-variegated cultivar of Saintpaulia ‘Thamires’ (Saintpaulia sp.) as the model plant. Based on the difference between the pre- and post-transposon excision sequence of the promoter region of flavonoid 3′, 5′-hydoroxylase (F3′5′H), we estimated mutated (transposon-excised) cell percentages using a quantitative real-time PCR. Mutated cell percentages in leaf laminae used as explants was 4.6 and 2.4% in highly or low variegation flower plants, respectively, although the occurrences of blue color mutants in their regenerants were more than 40%. Preexisting mutated cell percentages in cultured explants were considerably lower than the mutated plant percentage among total regenerants via tissue culture. Conclusions/Significance The estimation of mutated cell percentages became possible using the quantitative real-time PCR. The origins of mutations were successfully distinguished; it was confirmed that somaclonal variations are mainly caused by newly generated mutations arising from tissue culture process.

Assessment of Capsiconinoid Composition, Nonpungent Capsaicinoid Analogues, in Capsicum Cultivars

Capsiconinoid is a group of nonpungent capsaicinoid analogues produced in Capsicum fruits, which we recently identified. Capsiconinoids have agonist activity for transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1), which is reported to be a receptor for capsaicin. It is, therefore, important to screen cultivars containing high levels of capsiconinoid for their use as a vegetable or dietary supplement. This study describes the quantitative analysis of capsiconinoid content in fruits of 35 Capsicum cultivars: 18 cultivars of C. annuum, 7 of C. baccatum, 5 of C. chinense, 4 of C. frutescens, and 1 of C. pubescens. Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), we found that 10 cultivars contained capsiconinoids. Capsiconinoid Baccatum (CCB) (C. baccatum var. praetermissum) showed the highest capsiconinoid content (3314 microg/g DW) and Charapita (C. chinense) had the second highest content. The other 8 cultivars had much lower capsiconinoid content than these two cultivars (<300 microg/g DW). Time-course analysis during fruit development clarified that capsiconinoid content in CCB fruits increased until 30 days after flowering (DAF) and then decreased rapidly until 40 DAF.

Endogenous post-transcriptional gene silencing of flavone synthase resulting in high accumulation of anthocyanins in black dahlia cultivars

Black color in flowers is a highly attractive trait in the floricultural industry, but its underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. This study was performed to identify the bases of the high accumulation of anthocyanidins in black cultivars and to determine whether the high accumulation of total anthocyanidins alone leads to the black appearance. Our approach was to compare black dahlia (Dahlia variabilis) cultivars with purple cultivars and a purple flowering mutant of a black cultivar, using pigment and molecular analyses. Black cultivars characteristically exhibited low lightness, high petal accumulation of cyanidin and total anthocyanidins without flavones, and marked suppression of flavone synthase (DvFNS) expression. A comparative study using black and purple cultivars revealed that neither the absence of flavones nor high accumulation of total anthocyanidins is solely sufficient for black appearance, but that cyanidin content in petals is also an important factor in the phenotype. A study comparing the black cultivar ‘Kokucho’ and its purple mutant showed that suppression of DvFNS abolishes the competition between anthocyanidin and flavone synthesis and leads to accumulation of cyanidin and total anthocyanidins that produce a black appearance. Surprisingly, in black cultivars the suppression of DvFNS occurred in a post-transcriptional manner, as determined by small RNA mapping.