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Updated: Aug 20, 2025

Annotation of Plant Gene Function via Combined Genomics, Metabolomics and Informatics
Published on: June 17, 2012
Transcriptome and Metabolome Analysis Reveals the Effect of Nitrogen-Potassium on Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in "Fuji"
Xinxiang Xu1, Hanhan Qin1, Chunling Liu1
1State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, Shandong 271002, China.
Abstract:
Nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) have significant effects on apple peel color. To further understand the molecular mechanism of N-K regulation of apple color, we analyzed the apple peel under different N and K treatments using isotope labeling, transcriptomics, and metabolomics. Under high N treatments, fruit red color and anthocyanin content decreased significantly. High N decreased the 13C distribution rate and increased the Ndff values of fruits, while K increased the expression of MdSUTs and MdSOTs and promoted 13C transportation to fruits. Anthocyanin-targeted metabonomics and transcriptome analysis revealed that high N downregulated the expression of structural genes related to the anthocyanin synthesis pathway (MdPAL, Md4CL, MdF3H, MdANS, and MdUFGT) and their regulators (MdMYBs and MdbHLHs), and also decreased some metabolites contents. K alleviated this inhibition and seven anthocyanins were regulated by N-K. Our results improve the understanding of the synergistic regulation of apple fruit coloring by N-K.
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