Computational Molecular Biology 2025, Vol.15, No.2, 65-74 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/cmb 70 BnaA07.PAP2 are not only involved in rapeseed but also in similar synthetic pathways in cabbage (B. oleracea) and Chinese cabbage (B. rapa) (Figure 2) (Chen et al., 2020). Looking at it this way, although the species are different, the "toolbox" for regulating colors seems to be passed down from generation to generation. Figure 2 Characterization of anthocyanin accumulation in leaves of purple rapeseed (Adopted from Chen et al., 2020) Image caption: (A-C) Different phenotype of young plant of PR (A) and ZS11 (B) planted outdoor and PR in the glass greenhouse (C), (D) Hand section of a young leaf of PR. Scale bar: 10μm (Adopted from Chen et al., 2020) 5.2 Insights from comparative genomics across related species Comparative genomics has indeed helped us understand many things in recent years, especially on the genetic basis of pigment regulation in rapeseed and its related species. Take the carotenoid isomerase gene BnaCRTISO for example. Once it mutates, the color of petals and leaves will change quite significantly-this actually indicates that behind pigment regulation, many genes are cooperating with each other, and the movement of one alone may trigger a series of reactions. In addition, genes like CONSTANS-LIKE (COL) are also quite interesting. They are originally closely related to photoperiod and flowering time. However, in the cruciferous family, both the gene structure and the promoter region are quite conserved, which makes people can't help but speculate Coloring and flowering may be evolutionarily related. There are also homologous genes like SOC1. Although they all regulate flower color and flowering time, their expression patterns are not exactly the same in different species, indicating that transcription factor binding sites are gradually differentiating during evolution while still retaining some core functions (Sri et al., 2020). From this perspective, the evolutionary process not only retains old debts but also adds new tricks, making the regulatory mechanism increasingly complex. 5.3 Adaptive significance of pigmentation variations The appearance of different flower colors in cruciferous plants is actually due to adaptive considerations-after all, color directly affects whether it can attract pollinating insects, which is closely related to the success rate of reproduction. Take rapeseed as an example, petals like apricot and pink, which contain anthocyanins (which are closely related to the regulation of BnaA07.PAP2), are usually more attractive to pollinators than pure yellow or white. In addition, pigments are not only used to attract insects, such as the BnaA03.ANS gene, which is almost irreplaceable in the formation of red petals. Its differential expression is likely to enable plants to live better in specific environments. Interestingly, it has recently been found that the distribution of epigenetic markers between different subgenomes of rapeseed is actually asymmetric, indicating that color regulation during evolution may also respond to environmental selection pressure. From this perspective, the color scheme is just a "face saving project", which is not quite fair-it hides a whole set of survival strategies underneath. 6 Applications in Breeding and Biotechnology 6.1 Enhancing ornamental value of Brassica napus flowers In fact, there is a rather complex genetic regulatory mechanism behind the color of rape flowers, which also leaves much room for improvement in terms of its ornamental value. For instance, if we can adjust certain genes in the synthesis pathways of carotenoids or anthocyanins, there will be a chance to make the color of flowers more diverse-not just the common yellow, but also possibly orange, pink and even red. Previous experiments have found that if the genes BnaA09.ZEP and BnaC09.ZEP are silved, the composition of carotenoids will change, with an increase in lutein accumulation and a decrease in neoxanthin, and finally the petals will show orange. Anthocyanins also have similar regulatory roles. For instance, BnaA07.PAP2 is regarded as one of the key genes.
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