Authors

• Zahra Azizi ¹
• Ali Deljou ²

¹ Agricultural Biotechnology Dept., Engineering and Technology Faculty, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan. Iran

² academic staff

Abstract

It is a well established fact that stigma part of the Crocus sativus L. flower is the actual site for synthesis of many important carotenoids and apocarotenoids, and that too done at specific stages of development, but nothing is known about the mechanism that regulates its synthesis. Extensive researches on enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of saffron apocartenoids, especially crocin, indicates the presence of one of these enzymes, CsLcy-β2a in the stigma and also it activates and boosts b-carotene accumulation. Transcription factors, as a group of regulators, regulate many developmental and physiological processes in plants via their ability to tissue-specific and time-specific binding to promoters of target genes in order to control of gene expression. In this study, constructs contains of sequences CsMYB, CsARF8, CsERF2, CsZinc-finger CCCH and sequence CsLcyβ2a promoter fused with firefly luciferase reporter gene made by GoldenBriad system, and they was transferred to tobacco leaves (Nicotiana benthamiana) by agro-infiltration .The interaction between transcription factors and promoter was evaluated using Dual-Luciferase System assays .luciferase/Renilla (Luc/Ren) luminescence ratio was changed for only one transcription factor )CsMYB). Taken together, our findings illustrate that CsMYB is a positive regulator of carotenoid/apocarotenoid biosynthetic pathway in saffron.

Keywords

• Crocus sativus L
• transcription factors
• GoldenBriad
• agro-infiltration
• Dual-Luciferase System Assays