Characterization of Genes for a Putative Hydroxycinnamoyl-coenzyme A Quinate Transferase and <i>p</i>‑Coumarate 3′-Hydroxylase and Chlorogenic Acid Accumulation in Tartary Buckwheat

Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum Gaertn.) contains a high level of flavonoid compounds, which have beneficial and pharmacological effects on health. In this study, we isolated full-length cDNAs encoding hydroxycinnamoyl-coenzyme A quinate hydroxycinnamoyltransferase (HQT) and <i>p</i>-coumarate 3′-hydroxylase (C3H), which are involved in chlorogenic acid (CGA) biosynthesis. We examined the expression levels of HQT and C3H using real-time RT-PCR in different organs and sprouts of two tartary buckwheat cultivars (Hokkai T8 and T10) and analyzed CGA content using high-performance liquid chromatography. Among the organs, the flowers in both cultivars showed the highest levels of CGA. We concluded that the expression pattern of <i>FtHQT</i> and <i>FtC3H</i> did not match the accumulation pattern of CGA in different organs of T8 and T10 cultivars. Gene expression and CGA content varied between the cultivars. We presume that <i>FtHQT</i> and <i>FtC3H</i> levels might be controlled by multiple metabolic pathways in different organs of tartary buckwheat. Probably, <i>FtC3H</i> might have a greater effect on CGA biosynthesis than <i>FtHQT</i>. Our results will be helpful for a greater understanding of CGA biosynthesis in tartary buckwheat

Metabolomic Analysis and Differential Expression of Anthocyanin Biosynthetic Genes in White- and Red-Flowered Buckwheat Cultivars (Fagopyrum esculentum)

Red-flowered buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is used in the production of tea, juice, and alcohols after the detoxification of fagopyrin. In order to investigate the metabolomics and regulatory of anthocyanin production in red-flowered (Gan-Chao) and white-flowered (Tanno) buckwheat cultivars, quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS), and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were conducted. The transcriptions of <i>FePAL</i>, <i>FeC4H</i>, <i>Fe4CL1</i>, <i>FeF3H</i>, <i>FeANS</i>, and <i>FeDFR</i> increased gradually from flowering stage 1 and reached their highest peaks at flowering stage 3 in Gan-Chao flower. In total 44 metabolites, 18 amino acids, 15 organic acids, 7 sugars, 3 sugar alcohols, and 1 amine were detected in Gan-Chao flowers. Two anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-<i>O</i>-glucoside and cyanidin 3-<i>O</i>-rutinoside, were identified in Gan-Chao cultivar. The first component of the partial least-squares to latent structures-discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) indicated that high amounts of phenolic, shikimic, and pyruvic acids were present in Gan-Chao. We suggest that transcriptions of genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis, anthocyanin contents, and metabolites have correlation in the red-flowered buckwheat Gan-Chao flowers. Our results may be helpful to understand anthocyanin biosynthesis in red-flowered buckwheat

Additional file 8: of Purple Brassica oleracea var. capitata F. rubra is due to the loss of BoMYBL2–1 expression

Figure S4. Expression of genes associated with anthocyanin biosynthesis in various purple cabbages. Daebakna is a green cabbage used as a reference. (DOCX 387 kb

Additional file 5: of Purple Brassica oleracea var. capitata F. rubra is due to the loss of BoMYBL2–1 expression

DNA sequences of BoMYBL2–1 plus the front region or corresponding region of the gene. Gene names represented plant names descirbed in Table 1. TO1000 indicates reference sequence (Parkins et al. 2014). (TXT 86 kb

Additional file 7: of Purple Brassica oleracea var. capitata F. rubra is due to the loss of BoMYBL2–1 expression

Figure S5. Comparison of different BoMYBL2–1 nucleotide sequences obtained from cabbages. Shaded regions indicate exon sequences. Sequences corresponding to Bol016162 from B. oleracea var. capitata were omitted. (DOCX 31 kb

Additional file 3: of Purple Brassica oleracea var. capitata F. rubra is due to the loss of BoMYBL2–1 expression

Table S2. List of primer sequences used in RT-PCR and genomic PCR analyses of BoMYBL2. (DOCX 32 kb