Nature's Swiss Army Knife: The Diverse Protective Roles of Anthocyanins in Leaves

By K. Gould. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, 2004

851 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Anthocyanins, the pigments responsible for spectacular displays of vermilion in the leaves of deciduous trees, have long been considered an extravagant waste of a plant's resources. Contemporary research, in contrast, has begun to show that the pigments can significantly influence the way a leaf responds to environmental stress. Anthocyanins have been implicated in tolerance to stressors as diverse as drought, UV-B, and heavy metals, as well as resistance to herbivores and pathogens. By absorbing high-energy quanta, anthocyanic cell vacuoles both protect chloroplasts from the photoinhibitory and photooxidative effects of strong light, and prevent the catabolism of photolabile defence compounds. Anthocyanins also mitigate photooxidative injury in leaves by efficiently scavenging free radicals and reactive oxygen species. Far from being a useless by-product of the flavonoid pathway, these red pigments may in some instances be critical for plant survival.

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Molecular Biology, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0ce3c36a45a5d833ef44f63bc133603ce6ceade0

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Citations in the corpus

Phenolic Compounds: Introduction 50 (2013, background): “In this scenario, therefore, color and preference coevolve in an arms race: autumn colors are an adaptation of the trees to reduce their parasite load, and insect preference for green is an adaptation to find the most suitable host trees [115–120].”
Multiple drivers of seasonal change in PRI: Implications for photosynthesis 1. Leaf level (2017, positive): “The disturbance of the close Car/Chl relationship upon appearance of AnC can be explained by a strong photoprotective effect of anthocyanins (Hatier and Gould, 2009; Gould, 2004).”
Photoregulation of Bioprotectant Content of Red Leaf Lettuce with Light-emitting Diodes (2009, neutral): “Treatments that increase the production of anthocyanin include a number of environmental stressors such as high irradiance, temperature extremes, ultraviolet radiation, mineral imbalances, water stress, mechanical injury, and pathogen attack (Gould, 2004).”
Tomato seedling physiological responses under different percentages of blue and red photon flux ratios using LEDs and cool white fluorescent lamps (2016, background): “Further studies have shown that anthocyanin concentration serves as a light-attenuation mechanism to protect lower cells from photo-inhibition (Albert et al., 2009; Gould, 2004; Gould et al., 1995; Hughes et al., 2008).”
Aposematic (Warning) Coloration in Plants (2009, neutral): “2007a, b) , and; (3) mimicry of the phenomenon (Lev-Yadun 2003a, b, 2006b ; Lev-Yadun and Gould 2008) . Although Midgley et al. (2001) and Midgley (2004) did not use the word aposematic, they described the typical conspicuous white thorns of many African Acacia trees as visually deterring large herb”
The bHLH transcription factor MdbHLH3 promotes anthocyanin accumulation and fruit colouration in response to low temperature in apples. (2012, background): “Moreover, anthocyanins possess various properties that impart benefits to human nutritional health, acting as powerful antioxidants and free radical scavengers (Gould 2004; Pourcel et al. 2007; Butelli et al. 2008; Gonzali, Mazzucato & Perata 2009).”
Naturally Occurring Anthocyanin, Structure, Functions and BiosyntheticPathway in Fruit Plants (2017, background): “For more over than a century biologists, biochemists, and physiologists have conjectured for the promising biological effectiveness of anthocyanins during plant growth and human consumption [6].”
Increased anthocyanin and flavonoids in mango fruit peel are associated with cold and pathogen resistance (2016, background): “Anthocyanin is induced by a number of environmental factors including high light and UVB radiation, cold temperatures and water stress, and it has been proposed as an important compound in abiotic stress tolerance response (Chalker-Scott,1999; Nozzolillo et al., 2002; Oberbaueri and Starr, 2002; Gou”