• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1055-1061
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• 2019

Sarracenia purpurea as a carnivorous plant in the family Sarraceniaceae is known to require strong light for its growth and to absorb nutrients from the decomposed molecules of insects that are attracted by color, sweet juice, and the like. S. purpurea grew greenish in whole body under weak light conditions, while the whole of the insectivorous sac including leaves, is changed to dark red under strong light conditions. The phenomenon of reddish S. purpurea is thought to be related to the flavonoid pigment anthocyanin. Interestingly, the color change was not observed when S. purpurea was grown in a growth condition with abundant nitrogen fertilizer. The expression levels of anthocyanin contents and biosynthesis-related genes were strongly correlated with light intensity and nitrogen fertilizer. The anthocyanin content in the strong light condition ($240{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$) was 6.15 times higher than that in the weak light ($40{\mu}mol\;m^{-2}s^{-1}$). In contrast, the anthocyanin contents were not significantly changed when 0.8% urea solution was supplied as nitrogen fertilizer. Consistently, CHALCONE SYNTHASE (CHS) gene was up-regulated by strong light and down-regulated by nitrogen fertilizer. These results suggest that the environmental changes of light and nitrogen in soil regulate the anthocyanin content in S. purpurea.