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Updated: Aug 18, 2025

Biosynthesis of a Flavonol from a Flavanone by Establishing a One-pot Bienzymatic Cascade
Published on: August 14, 2019
CmHY5 functions in apigenin biosynthesis by regulating flavone synthase II expression in chrysanthemum flowers
Chang Luo1, Lei Liu1, Jian Zhao1
1Beijing Key Laboratory of Development and Quality Control of Ornamental Crops, Department of Ornamental Horticulture, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
Main Conclusion:
The predominant flavones in the ray florets of chrysanthemum flowers are apigenin and its derivatives. CmHY5 participates in apigenin biosynthesis by directly regulating the expression of FNSII-1 in chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) flowers have been used for centuries as functional food and in herbal tea and traditional medicine. The chrysanthemum flower contains significant amounts of the biologically active compound flavones, which has medicinal properties. However, the mechanism regulating flavones biosynthesis in chrysanthemum flowers organs is still unclear. Here, we compared the transcriptomes and metabolomes of different floral organs between two cultivars with contrasting flavone levels in their flowers. We identified 186 flavonoids by metabolome analysis. The predominant flavones in the ray florets of chrysanthemum flowers are apigenin and its derivatives, of which the contents are highly correlated with the expression of flavones synthase II gene CmFNSII-1. We also determined that CmHY5 is a direct upstream regulator of CmFNSII-1 transcription. We showed that CmHY5 RNAi interference lines in chrysanthemum have lower contents of apigenin compared to wild-type chrysanthemum. Our results demonstrated that CmHY5 participates in flavone biosynthesis by directly regulating the expression of FNSII-1 in chrysanthemum.
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