Brassica juncea var. multiceps Raw sequence reads

Anthocyanins are food ingredients with physiological functions due to their antioxidant activity. This study performed transcriptome and metabolome association analyses in the purple non-heading Chinese cabbage and its green mutant to elucidate the anthocyanin biosynthesis mechanism. A total of 25 anthocyanins were identified in the two non-heading Chinese cabbage; 11 anthocyanin metabolites were identified specifically in the purple plants. Furthermore, transcriptome data indicated that 27 anthocyanin biosynthetic genes and 4 transcription factors related to anthocyanin biosynthesis were significantly differentially expressed between the two varieties. The UGT75C1 gene, which catalyzed the conversion of pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside into pelargonidin-3,5-O-diglucoside and cyanidin-3,5-O-diglucoside, was significantly down-regulated in green mutant compared to purple plant, which may the main reasons caused the formation of green leaves. The results are important in improving cabbage quality, and they provide new knowledge on anthocyanin biosynthesis molecular mechanisms in non-heading Chinese cabbage.