Cloning, Identification, and Functional Analysis of the Chalcone Isomerase Gene from Astragalus sinicus

is an important winter-growing cover crop. It is widely utilized, not only as a cover crop for its benefits in fertilizing the soil but also as a landscape ground cover plant. Anthocyanins are involved in the pigmentation of plants in leaves and flowers, which is a crucial characteristic trait for The formation of anthocyanins depends significantly on the enzyme chalcone isomerase (CHI). However, research on the gene of remains unexplored. The rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) approach was used in this research to clone the sequence from ). The expression profiles of the gene in multiple tissues of were subsequently examined by qRT-PCR (Quantitative Real-Time PCR). Furthermore, the function of the was identified by the performance of ectopic expression in ( ). The outcomes revealed that the full-length cDNA of the gene (GeneBank: OQ870547) measured 972 bp in length and included an open reading frame of 660 bp. The encoded protein contains 219 amino acids with a molecular weight of 24.14 kDa and a theoretical isoelectric point of 5.11. In addition, the remarkable similarity between the AsiCHI protein and the CHI proteins of other species was demonstrated by the sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis. Moreover, the highest expression level of was observed in leaves and showed a positive correlation with anthocyanin content. The functional analysis further revealed that the overexpression of enhanced the anthocyanidin accumulation in the transgenic lines. This study provided a better understanding of and elucidated its role in anthocyanin production.