Abstract: Effects of light and sugar on Gerbera hybrida ray floret ( rf) p igmentation were investigated.
Inflorescences or rfs at stage P2 were detached and incubated on the medium (8 g·L^-1 agarwith 3% sucrose
or free of sucrose) under 14 h light /10 h dark cycles at 23 - 25℃. Cultured inflorescences and rfswere first
incubated in darkness for 3 d, then exposed to transient light for a period of time followed by an incubation in
the dark until harvesting for anthocyanin determination by spectrophotometer at 9 th d or harvested immediately
for gene exp ression detected byNorthern-blot. The results showed that transient light exposure induced antho
cyanin accumulation and the gene exp ression of CHS and DFR in rf petal after 3 d p reculture in darkness. The
longer time of light irradiation strongly enhanced the gene exp ression of CHS and DFR . Petals precultured in
darkness for 7 d and 9 d had weak response to light in gene expression. When sucrose was present in the me
dium, both anthocyanin accumulation and gene exp ression were strongly increased under light condition.

Key words: Gerbera, Anthocyanin, Light, Sugar, Gene expression