The road less taken: Dihydroflavonol 4-reductase inactivation and delphinidin anthocyanin loss underpins a natural intraspecific flower colour variation

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dc.contributor.authorWong, D.C.J.
dc.contributor.authorWang, Z.
dc.contributor.authorPerkins, J.
dc.contributor.authorJin, X.
dc.contributor.authorMarsh, G.E.
dc.contributor.authorJohn, E.G.
dc.contributor.authorPeakall, R.
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractVisual cues are of critical importance for the attraction of animal pollinators, however, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underpinning intraspecific floral colour variation. Here, we combined comparative spectral analysis, targeted metabolite profiling, multi-tissue transcriptomics, differential gene expression, sequence analysis and functional analysis to investigate a bee-pollinated orchid species, Glossodia major with common purple-and infrequent white-flowered morphs. We found uncommon and previously unreported delphinidin-based anthocyanins responsible for the conspicuous and pollinator-perceivable colour of the purple morph and three genetic changes underpinning the loss of colour in the white morph – (1) a loss-of- function (LOF; frameshift) mutation affecting dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR1) coding sequence due to a unique 4-bp insertion, (2) specific downregulation of functional DFR1 expression and (3) the unexpected discovery of chimeric Gypsy transposable element (TE)-gene (DFR) transcripts with potential consequences to the genomic stability and post-transcriptional or epigenetic regulation of DFR. This is one of few known cases where regulatory changes and LOF mutation in an anthocyanin structural gene, rather than transcription factors, are important. Furthermore, if TEs prove to be a frequent source of mutation, the interplay between environmental stress-induced TE evolution and pollinator-mediated selection for adaptive colour variation may be an overlooked mechanism maintaining floral colour polymorphism in nature.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityDarren C. J. Wong, Zemin Wang, James Perkins, Xin Jin, Grace Emma Marsh, Emma Grace John, Rod Peakall
dc.identifier.citationMolecular Ecology, 2025; 34(15):e17334-1-e17334-21
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/mec.17334
dc.identifier.issn0962-1083
dc.identifier.issn1365-294X
dc.identifier.orcidWong, D.C.J. [0000-0001-6534-0901]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/148088
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherWiley
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE190100249
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP150102762
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP210100471
dc.rights© 2024 The Authors. Molecular Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17334
dc.subjectanthocyanin; dihydroflavonol 4-reductase; flower; food deception; orchid; transposable element
dc.subject.meshAlcohol Oxidoreductases
dc.subject.meshAnimals
dc.subject.meshAnthocyanins
dc.subject.meshBees
dc.subject.meshColor
dc.subject.meshFlowers
dc.subject.meshGene Expression Regulation, Plant
dc.subject.meshOrchidaceae
dc.subject.meshPigmentation
dc.subject.meshPlant Proteins
dc.subject.meshPollination
dc.titleThe road less taken: Dihydroflavonol 4-reductase inactivation and delphinidin anthocyanin loss underpins a natural intraspecific flower colour variation
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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