Flower color variations due to copigments in Japanese garden iris, Iris ensata Thunb.
1994
Yabuya, T. | Nakamura, M. (Miyazaki Univ., Miyazaki (Japan). Faculty of Agriculture) | Iwashina, T. (National Science Museum, Tsukuba (Japan). Tsukuba Botanical Garden)
The cause of flower color variations among malvidin 3RGac5G - petunidin 3RGac5G type varieties of Iris ensata were examined, and the reason why the delphinidin 3RGac5G type variety Chitosehime could not exhibit strong bluing effect for its flower color was clarified. Among the 10 malvidin 3RGac5G - petunidin 3RGac5G type varieties, the bluish purple varieties showed the visible longest lambda max of fresh flowers, followed by purple and reddish purple ones, and there was a very interesting correlation between the lambda max and the flavone contents. Namely, their bathochromic effect (bluing effect) was significantly correlated with their flavone contents (r = 0.887** ). This indicated that the bluing effect on the flower color of the bluish purple varieties depended upon the copigmentation between anthocyanins and flavones. The delphinidin 3RGac5G type variety "Chitosehime" was characterized by the low flavone content and the bluing effect on the flower color in this variety was clearly weak, compared with the bluish purple varieties in the malvidin 3RGac5G - petunidin 3RGac5G type. This variety, therefore, was regarded as the poor one for bluing effect on the flower color by the weak exhibition of copigmentation due to its low flavone content and could not exhibit blue flowers, although the variety had delphinidin 3RGac5G as the major pigment. Finally, the breeding strategy of blue flowers of I. ensata was discussed.
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