A possible role of an anthocyanin filter in low-intensity light stress-induced flowering in Perilla frutescens var. crispa

The red-leaved form of Perilla frutescens var. crispa was induced to flower by low-intensity light stress. The leaves of this form are normally red, but turned green under low-intensity light due to anthocyanin depletion in the epidermis. Flowering did not occur when plants were grown under light passed through a red-colored cellophane paper, which has an absorption spectrum similar to that of anthocyanins. High-concentration anthocyanins may play the role of a red-colored optical filter under normal light conditions, and this filter effect may be lost under low-intensity light, causing a change in the wavelength characteristics of the light with which the mesophyll cells are irradiated. This change may induce a photobiological effect leading to flowering. The gene expression and enzyme activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), the key enzyme for anthocyanin biosynthesis, decreased under low-intensity light. L-2-aminooxy-3-phenylpropionic acid (AOPP), which is widely used as a PAL inhibitor, inhibited low-intensity light stress-induced flowering and increased PAL activity and anthocyanin content. The inhibition of flowering by AOPP in P. frutescens may be through different mechanisms than PAL inhibition.