Differences in flavonoid pathway metabolites and transcripts affect yellow petal colouration in the aquatic plant Nelumbo nucifera

BACKGROUND: The Asia lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) is an ornamental aquatic plant with high economic value. Flower colour is an important ornamental trait, with much of N. nucifera breeding focusing on its yellow flowers. To explore the yellow flower colouration mechanism in N. nucifera, we analysed its pigment constituents and content, as well as gene expression in the flavonoid pathway, in two N. nucifera cultivars. RESULTS: We performed metabolomic and gene expression analyses in two N. nucifera cultivars with yellow and white flowers, Molinqiuse (MLQS) and Yeguangbei (YGB), respectively, at five stages of flower colouration. Based on phenotypic observation and metabolite analyses, the later stages of flower colouration (S3–S5) were determined to be key periods for differences between MLQS and YGB, with dihydroflavonols and flavonols differing significantly between cultivars. Dihydroquercetin, dihydrokaempferol, and isorhamnetin were significantly higher in MLQS than in YGB, whereas kaempferol was significantly higher in YGB. Most of the key homologous structural genes in the flavonoid pathway were significantly more active in MLQS than in YGB at stages S1–S4. CONCLUSION: In this study, we performed the first analyses of primary and secondary N. nucifera metabolites during flower colouration, and found that isorhamnetin and kaempferol shunting resulted in petal colour differences between MLQS and YGB. Based on our data integration analyses of key enzyme expression in the putative flavonoid pathways of the two N. nucifera cultivars, NnFLS gene substrate specificity and differential expression of NnOMTs may be related to petal colour differences between MLQS and YGB. These results will contribute to determining the mechanism of yellow flower colouration in N. nucifera, and will improve yellow petal colour breeding in lotus species. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-019-1886-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.