Abstract: The effects of different treatments（10 μL ? L-1 ethylene，1 μL ? L-1 ethylene inhibitor 1-MCP，90 g ? L-1 glucose and 90 g ? L-1 glucose in combination with 10 μL ? L-1 ethylene）on flower color and anthocyanin biosynthesis in the cut flowers of a tree peony（Paeonia suffruticosa）purplish red-?owered cultivar‘Luoyanghong’were investigated. Results showed that flowers under ethylene treatment presented higher lightness，lower redness and chroma，as well as decreased anthocyanin content compared to ones from the control treatment. However，1-MCP treatment had no significant effects on the cut flowers. Glucose treatment prominently decreased lightness，increased redness and chroma of theflowers，and enhanced the anthocyanin accumulation. Similarly，glucose-ethylene combined treatment also marked beneficial effects on the coloration and anthocyanin accumulation. qRT-PCR was used to analyze the relative expression levels of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes and results showed that ethylene treatment significantly inhibited the expression of all tested genes，while glucose enhanced the expression of most genes. Glucose-ethylene combined treatment significantly up-regulated the genes，which would be inhibited by ethylene solo treatment. According to all above results，it can be concluded that petal coloration and anthocyanin biosynthesis in tree peony‘Luoyang Hong’cut flower is negatively regulated by ethylene signaling but positively regulated by glucose signaling. Moreover，ethylene signaling and glucose signaling have an antagonism effect on anthocyanin biosynthesis，since glucose increased anthocyanin accumulation which was inhibited by ethylene.

Key words: Paeonia suffruticosa, cut flower, ethylene, glucose, flower color, anthocyanin