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Background   Crocus sativus  is a triploid sterile plant with long red stigmas which form commercial saffron. Saffron is the site for synthesis and accumulation of apocarotenoids like crocin, picrocrin and safranal which are responsible for its color, flavour and aroma making it world’s most expensive spice. These compounds are formed by oxidative cleavage of zeaxanthin by carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases. Although the biosynthetic pathway of apocarotenoids is known to a considerable extent, the mechanism that regulates its tissue and developmental stage specific expression is not known.    Results  In the present work, we identified, cloned and characterized ultrapetala transcription factor called  CsULT1  from  Crocus . The gene contains an 80 amino acid long conserved SAND domain. The  CsULT1  transcript was more abundant in stigma and showed increase in expression from pre anthesis stage till anthesis and decreased in post anthesis stage which corroborated with the accumulation pattern of crocin indicating its possible role in regulation of apocarotenoid biosynthesis.  CsULT1  was found to be transcriptionally active and localized in nucleus. Its expression is induced in response to phytohormones like auxin, methyljasmonate and salicylic acid. Overexpression of  CsULT1  in  Crocus  calli resulted in enhanced expression of key pathway genes like  phytoene synthase  ( PSY ),  phytoene desaturase  ( PDS ),  beta carotene hydroxylase  ( BCH ) and  carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases  ( CCDs ) indicating its role in regulation of apocarotenoid biosynthesis.    Conclusion  This work presents first report on isolation and characterization of ultrapetala gene from  Crocus.  Our results suggest that  CsULT1  is a novel regulator of  Crocus  apocarotenoid biosynthesis. We show for the first time involvement of plant SAND domain proteins in regulating secondary metabolic pathways.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-015-0423-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

bmc plant biology

Identification, cloning and characterization of an ultrapetala transcription factor CsULT1 from Crocus: a novel regulator of apocarotenoid biosynthesis