Coloration differences in three Camellia reticulata Lindl. varieties: ‘Tongzimian’, ‘Shizitou’ and ‘Manao’

Our results revealed that the initial flowering stage plays a critical role in the color change of MN. Metabolome analysis demonstrated that cyanidin was the primary anthocyanin in SZT and MN’s red region, while its content was low in TZM and MN’s white region. According to the transcriptome analysis, the anthocyanins biosynthesis pathway was reconstructed in Yunnan Camellia, and the low expression of CHS was detected in TZM and MN’s white region, while ANR maintained a high expression level, which may lead to the low content of cyanidin in them. Transcription factors MYBs, bHLH, and bZIP may play a key role in regulating anthocyanin-structural genes. The co-expression analysis showed that the meristem tissue may play a crucial role in the formation of the mixed white-red color in MN. We conducted metabolic and transcriptomic comparison analysis to investigate the coloration differences in three Yunnan Camellia species: C. reticulata ‘Shizitou’ (SZT), C. reticulata ‘Manao’ (MN), and C. reticulata ‘Tongzimian’ (TZM).