Cloning and sequence analysis of a chalcone synthase (CHS)gene involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis in Prunus persica

Flavonoids are a kind of important secondary metabolites in plants. Usually, it was found in fruits, vegetables, beans, tea and many other plants as combination (flavonoid glycosides) or free states (flavonoid glycosides) form. It has important role in regulating plant growth and development. Chalcone synthase (CHS, EC 2.3.1.74), the first key synthase during the process of flavonoids synthesis, plays an important role in plant growth and development. Based on the whole peach genome sequence, the full length cDNA sequence of chalcone synthase gene (CHS) from Prunus persica was isolated by RT-PCR technology. This sequence was 1254 bp，and it included an open reading frame of 1032 bp corresponding to 344 amino acids，and the molecular weight was 37.75 kDa, with the isoelectric point of 5.43, which was designated as PpCHS (GenBank accession No. KX823936). Bioinformatics analysis showed that the deduced PpCHS, which shared more than 79% identities with the CHS protein from other plants, was predicted to possess the conserved CHS_like domain, active sites and signal sequences. In the evolutionary tree could be seen the Fragaria vesca subsp. vesca and Morus notabilis genetic relationship is close. The result implied the properties of CHS in the Prunus persica was almost as the same as them of other plants. These results indicate that PpCHS belongs to CHS families and provide the basis of research the enzymes and their genes in further step.