Flower pigment inheritance and anthocyanin characterization of hybrids from pink-flowered and white-flowered strawberry

• Pigment content of pink-flowered strawberry was a quantitative trait controlled by polygenes.
• Seven anthocyanin types were detected from pink-flowered strawberry by HPLC–MS.
• Among all anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside (Cy3G) was most abundant.
• A significant positive correlation was found between Cy3G and parameter a* value.
• A coloration mechanism of pink-flowered strawberry was proposed.

Two promising pink-flowered hybrids ‘31-1’ and ‘33-2’ were obtained from the crosses of Tudla × Pink Panda and Kinuama × Pink Panda, respectively. Both of them were used to make subsequent crosses of 31-1 × Honeoye, 33-2 × Honeoye and 31-1 × 33-2, which produced three populations with flower color ranging from white to red. Hybrid seedlings were investigated to determine the inheritance pattern of flower pigment and anthocyanin components. The pigment content was a quantitative trait controlled by polygenes with high broad sense heritability (H2). Seven kinds of anthocyanins were detected from the petals of pink-flowered strawberry hybrids by the high performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS). Among all anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside (Cy3G) was most abundant. There was a positive correlation between the content of Cy3G and the color parameter a* value. With flower color of hybrids ranging from white to red, the color parameter L* value decreased gradually and a* increased gradually, and the content of total anthocyanins (TA) gradually increased as well. There was a significant negative correlation between L* and TA. The identification of pigment inheritance patterns and characterization of anthocyanins would be helpful to breeding pink-flowered strawberry germplasm with various flower colors.