Computational Molecular Biology 2025, Vol.15, No.2, 65-74 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/cmb 65 Research Insight Open Access Genetic Regulation of Pigmentation in Brassica napus Flowers Kaiwen Liang Comprehensive Utilization Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resouces, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China Corresponding author: kaiwen.liang@hitar.org Computational Molecular Biology, 2025, Vol.15, No.2 doi: 10.5376/cmb.2025.15.0006 Received: 03 Jan., 2025 Accepted: 18 Feb., 2025 Published: 01 Mar., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Liang, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Liang K.W., 2025, Genetic regulation of pigmentation in Brassica napus flowers, Computational Molecular Biology, 15(2): 65-74 (doi: 10.5376/cmb.2025.15.0006) Abstract This study focuses on the genetic regulation mechanism of flower pigments in Brassica napus, with a particular emphasis on analyzing the roles of anthocyanins and carotenoids in flower color formation. Through metabolomics and RNA sequencing techniques, key genes and metabolites involved in flower color formation were identified, such as BnaA07.PAP2 and BnaA03.ANS genes that regulate red petal coloring, as well as BnaA09.ZEP and BnaC09.ZEP genes that affect orange petals. The regulatory role of these genes in metabolic pathways through transcription factors was revealed, and the effects of epigenetic and environmental factors on pigment formation were explored. The functions of key genes were validated through CRISPR/Cas9 and other techniques. The research results provide a genetic basis for improving the ornamental value of rapeseed, optimizing pollination efficiency, and enhancing stress resistance. At the same time, it also points out the need for further research on complex genetic networks and environmental gene interaction mechanisms in the future. Keywords Brassica napus; Pigment deposition; Carotenoids; Anthocyanins; Gene regulation 1 Introduction Brassica napus, also known as rapeseed, is actually a very important crop worldwide. At first, the main reason was that the seeds had a high oil content and were used for oil extraction. The remaining cake meal was also quite rich in protein. However, apart from consumption, it is now also a major source of biodiesel (Shah et al., 2018). Although the impression that most people have of rapeseed may remain at oil extraction, its flowers are actually quite crucial. They can attract pollinating insects. Without this step, seed setting and yield will be affected. Interestingly, this crop has quite strong adaptability. The types grown in different places are also different-there are winter rapeseed, spring rapeseed, and semi-winter ones. The main difference lies in the flowering time, which enables it to grow in various climatic conditions. In B. napus, the color of flowers is not just beautiful, it is actually quite important for both crops and agriculture. Pigments such as anthocyanins and flavonoids are mainly able to attract pollinating insects. Without their help, the fruiting rate and yield may be affected. Moreover, the formation of pigments involves many genes and metabolic pathways, making it a hot topic for botanists to study how colors come about. Studying this is not only interesting, but also has practical applications-for example, it can help us cultivate new varieties that are more attractive to pollinating insects or more resistant to environmental stress (Wang et al., 2023). Our main purpose in conducting this research is to understand how the flowers of Brassica napus display color, especially which genes and metabolic processes are involved. Previously, it was known that pigment deposition was not only related to appearance, but also to pollination and stress resistance, but the specific regulation methods were not fully understood. So we plan to use metabolomics and RNA sequencing to identify key substances and genes related to the coloring of red petals. Not only that, but we will also use methods such as RNA interference and gene overexpression to see how these genes affect color synthesis. I hope that through these works, we can better understand the genetic mechanism of color formation, and lay a foundation for cultivating more beautiful and practical rapeseed varieties in the future.
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