Abstract
BACKGROUND: The floral color variegation of cultivar 'Sahong Tao' is distinctive and possesses significant ornamental value. Currently, there are no relevant reports on how MYB transcription factors (TFs) interact with LDOX promoter to regulate the flower color variegation in peach. METHODS: In this study, we screened for proteins that interact with the LDOX promoter using yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) and next-generation sequencing (NGS). The NGS data were aligned with the Arabidopsis database (TAIR10) utilizing Python 3.10.4. PlantTFDB was employed to identify TFs, while PlantRegMap was used to predict TFs that interact with the LDOX promoter. The Y1H assay verified MYB1R1 interaction with LDOX promoter, and Y1H-AOS predicted their binding sites. The physicochemical properties, structure and interacting proteins of MYB1R1 were analyzed using bioinformatics methods. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree analyses of MYB1R1 were performed. Finally, the tissue expression specificity of MYB1R1 and LDOX in 'Sahong Tao' was examined using qRT-PCR. RESULTS: The Y1H and NGS results indicate that 1,190 proteins interact with the LDOX promoter. Among these, 20 TFs were identified, including ERF, MYB, NF-YB, SBP, S1Fa-like, TCP, bHLH, LBD, ZF-HD, C3H, DBB, MYB-related, and HD-ZIP. Of the 1,190 proteins, 1,146 exhibit high similarity to homologs in Arabidopsis, with 332 classified as RNA binding proteins and 124 as DNA binding proteins. A comparison with the NGS results identified seven TFs that align with predictions from PlantRegMap. Based on these findings, we selected MYB44 (PRUPE_6G229000, PRUPE_1G430000) and MYB1R1 (PRUPE_5G182000) as candidate members. Y1H assays demonstrated that MYB1R1 interacts with the LDOX promoter. Y1H-AOS was used to confirm 24 interaction binding sites. MYB1R1 consists of an 897 bp full-length CDS, encoding 298 amino acids, with a predicted molecular weight of 32.49 kDa and a theoretical isoelectric point of 7.20. MYB1R1 features a typical SANT-MYB domain, and its secondary structure is predominantly composed of irregular coils. Phylogenetic analysis indicates a close evolutionary relationship between MYB1R1 from 'Sahong Tao' and both Prunus avium and Prunus speciosa. Promoter prediction analysis for MYB1R1 reveals multiple hormone- and stress-related cis-acting elements. MYB1R1 may interact with bHLH and other proteins to perform its functions. In variegated petals, MYB1R1 expression is higher and LDOX expression is lower compared to red petals, suggesting that MYB1R1 negatively regulates anthocyanin synthesis by interacting with LDOX. This study contributes to elucidating the function of MYB1R1 and the regulatory mechanism of MYB- LDOX in the flower color of 'Sahong Tao'.