Identification of Genes Involved in the Regulation of Leaf Red Coloration in Ornamental Peach

Leaf red coloration is one of the most important characteristics in ornamental peach. Here, we report the molecular mechanism underlying leaf red coloration in ornamental peach (Prunus persica). The red coloration of peach leaves was due to the accumulation of anthocyanin pigments. All the structural genes showed significantly higher level of expression in red leaves than in green leaves, suggesting the anthocyanin biosynthesis in peach red leaves was regulated at transcriptional level. The analysis of transcriptome sequencing revealed a MYB transcription factor PpMYB10-4 may be responsible for the red coloration of peach leaves. Moreover, an insert DNA fragment which consisted of several cis-elements was exclusively present in the promoter region of PpCHI from red leaf peach 'Hongyetao'. We suggest that the insert DNA fragment might be involved in the regulation of anthocyanin accumulation in peach leaves.