Cloned genes and genetic regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in maize, a comparative review

Zaid Chachar; RuiQiang Lai; Nazir Ahmed; Ma Lingling; Sadaruddin Chachar; Najeeba Parre Paker; YongWen Qi

doi:10.3389/fpls.2024.1310634

Cloned genes and genetic regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in maize, a comparative review

Front Plant Sci. 2024 Jan 24:15:1310634. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1310634. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Zaid Chachar^{1

2}, RuiQiang Lai^{1

2}, Nazir Ahmed³, Ma Lingling⁴, Sadaruddin Chachar³, Najeeba Parre Paker⁵, YongWen Qi^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Agriculture and Biology, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, China.
² Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou, China.
³ College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ College of Agriculture, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
⁵ Department of Plant Sciences, Qaid Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Abstract

Anthocyanins are plant-based pigments that are primarily present in berries, grapes, purple yam, purple corn and black rice. The research on fruit corn with a high anthocyanin content is not sufficiently extensive. Considering its crucial role in nutrition and health it is vital to conduct further studies on how anthocyanin accumulates in fruit corn and to explore its potential for edible and medicinal purposes. Anthocyanin biosynthesis plays an important role in maize stems (corn). Several beneficial compounds, particularly cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, perlagonidin-3-O-glucoside, peonidin 3-O-glucoside, and their malonylated derivatives have been identified. C1, C2, Pl1, Pl2, Sh2, ZmCOP1 and ZmHY5 harbored functional alleles that played a role in the biosynthesis of anthocyanins in maize. The Sh2 gene in maize regulates sugar-to-starch conversion, thereby influencing kernel quality and nutritional content. ZmCOP1 and ZmHY5 are key regulatory genes in maize that control light responses and photomorphogenesis. This review concludes the molecular identification of all the genes encoding structural enzymes of the anthocyanin pathway in maize by describing the cloning and characterization of these genes. Our study presents important new understandings of the molecular processes behind the manufacture of anthocyanins in maize, which will contribute to the development of genetically modified variants of the crop with increased color and possible health advantages.

Keywords: SH2; ZmCOP1; ZmHY5; anthocyanins; maize.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The project was supported by the by the Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture Project (NZ2021014), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32072027), the Guangdong Province special projects in key fields of ordinary colleges and universities, and the Guangdong Province key construction discipline re-search ability enhancement project (2022ZDJS023). Key Scientific Research Project of Guangdong Province (2022ZDJS023), Key Scientific Research Project of Guangdong. Provincial Education Department (KA23Y352), Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan Project (SL2023A04J02318). Guangdong Province Key construction discipline scientific research capacity improvement project (KA23YY385). Special Fund for Rural Development Strategy Special Fund for National Development Project (2022 - NPY-00023 - 5).