Abstract:

Red currant（Ribes rubrum L.）and white currant（R. albrum L.）fruits were used as materials，two full-length cDNA sequences of F3H gene were cloned using RACE（rapid amplification of cDNA ends），and denoted as RrF3H and RaF3H. Both of them contained a 1 098 bp open reading frame that encoded a deduced protein with 365 amino acid residues. Amino acid sequence alignment showed that the protein had a non-heme dioxygenase domain（DIOX-N superfamily）and 2OG-FeⅡ-dependent dioxygenase superfamily. Phylogenetic analysis showed that，RrF3H and RaF3H had obvious characteristics of species in evolution，which had an relative independent evolutionary branch. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that，during the period of fruit development F3H expression in red currant was much higher than that in white currant. With the deepening of fruit colour，the expression level gradually increased until the period of 75% fruit colour，then the RrF3H decreased rapidly. With the fruit growth of white current，the expression pattern of F3H decreased. And the content of anthocyanins in the same period also showed a decreasing trend. All the results suggested that F3H play a role in the process of fruit coloring.

Key words: Ribes rubrum, Ribes albrum, anthocyanins, F3H, gene cloning