Transcriptional profiling between yellow- and black-seeded Brassica napus reveals molecular modulations on flavonoid and fatty acid content

Brassica napus is an important cash crop broadly grown for the vegetable and oil values. Yellow-seeded B. napus is preferred by breeders due to its improved oil and protein quality, less pigments and lignin compared with the black-seeded counterpart. This study compared the differences in flavonoid and fatty acid contents between yellow rapeseed from the progenies of B. napus–Sinapis alba somatic hybrids and the black-seeded counterpart using RNA-seq analysis. Through HPLC-PDA-ESI(−)/MS2 analysis, it was found that phenylpropanoids and flavonoids (i.e., isorhamnetin, epicatechin, kaempferol, and other derivatives) in yellow seed were significantly lower than those in black seed. The fatty acid (FA) content in yellow rapeseed was higher than that in black rapeseed due to the variation of C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2, and C18:3 contents. RNA-seq analysis of seeds at four and five weeks after flowering (WAF) indicated that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between black and yellow rapeseeds were enriched in flavonoid and FA biosynthesis, including BnTT3, BnTT4, BnTT18, and BnFAD2. Also, genes related to FA biosynthesis, desaturation and elongation (FAD3, LEC1, FUS3, and LPAT2) in yellow seed were up-regulated compared to those in black seed, while genes involved in beta-oxidation cycle (AIM1 and KAT2) of yellow seed were down-regulated compared to those in black seed. The DEGs related to the variation of flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, and FAs would help improve the knowledge of yellow seed character in B. napus and promote rapeseed improvement.