Phenotypic analysis of the transgenic PcRS Arabidopsis plants

To screen transgenic Arabidopsis plants with Polygonum cuspidatum resveratrol synthase (PcRS), and to analyze the biological function of PcRS in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants, the integration and expression of transgene in the genome of Arabidopsis was confirmed by Southern blot and Northern blot analyses. With stereomicroscope, the plant phenotypes were observed in transgenic Arabidopsis and wild-type Arabidopsis. Arabidopsis plants were grown on medium devoid of nitrogen sources and anthocyanin content was quantitated by using a spectrophotometer. The homozygous T3 progenies of three transgenic lines (L4, L6 and L15) were obtained. In this paper, we observed that transgenic plants had seeds with a pale fawn colour and accumulated less anthocyanin in cotyledons in contrast to the wild -type plants. Overexpression of PcRS could cause altered seed coat pigmentation and significant reduction in anthocyanin levels. These results suggested that additional PcRS activities lead to the disturbance of the subsequent flavonoid biosynthesis steps in Arabidopsis.