ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Crop and Product Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1615972
This article is part of the Research TopicQuality and Resistance Physiology and Regulation of Root and Tuber CropsView all 8 articles
Transcriptomic and Targeted Metabolomic Analysis Identifies Genes Involved in Differential Anthocyanin Accumulation in Potato Tubers
Provisionally accepted
- Yunnan University, Kunming, China
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Purple-fleshed potatoes accumulate high amounts of anthocyanins, which are beneficial to human health. Although the biosynthesis of these secondary metabolites has been well studied in plants, the mechanisms underlying anthocyanin accumulation in different tissue regions of potato tubers remain less understood. To identify genes and metabolites involved in anthocyanin accumulation, we performed comparative transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses of pith and vasculature tissues from the tubers of three different potato cultivars. Anthocyanin-targeted metabolome analysis revealed that 20 anthocyanins were key metabolites conferring purple pigmentation in the tuber. Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis identified 1,924 genes potentially involved in multiple pathways for the biosynthesis of these anthocyanins. In particular, we identified 47 genes that were specifically expressed in the tuber and highly correlated with different anthocyanins. These genes were associated with ATP-binding cassette transporters and phytohormone pathways. Additionally, a core transcription factor, StWRKY44, involved in anthocyanin accumulation in the tuber was identified; it was capable of binding to and activating the promoters of 7 anthocyanin structural genes. This study provides insights into the genes and metabolites underlying anthocyanin accumulation in potato tubers, which will be valuable for future functional studies and breeding efforts.
Keywords: Potato tuber, Anthocyanin, Transcriptome, Metabolome, regulatory network, StWRKY44
Received: 22 Apr 2025; Accepted: 28 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Huang, Li, Sun, Guangdong, Zhou and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Binquan Huang, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
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