Genome sequence of the ornamental plantAquilegia vulgarisreveals the flavonoid biosynthesis gene repertoire

Aquilegia vulgaris is a widespread ornamental plant. The species is well known for its extensive variation of different flower colors and can even be considered as a model species for the evolution of flower morphology. Anthocyanins are a major pigment group responsible for pigmentation of flowers in A. vulgaris and many plant species. Here, we report a highly continuous genome sequence of an European Aquilegia vulgaris plant displaying purple flowers and a genome sequence of a plant displaying white flowers. The corresponding annotation facilitates research on flower color and morphology evolution. Long-read alignments revealed different structural variants in an anthocyanidin synthase ( ANS ) gene, crucial for pigment biosynthesis, that could explain the white flower phenotype. Candidate genes for all steps in the core anthocyanidin biosynthesis were identified. The identification of a flavonoid 3’,5’ hydroxylase ( F3’5’H ), a gene essential for the biosynthesis of bluish delphinidin derivatives, corroborates previous reports about metabolites and transcripts in A. vulgaris .