The invention relates to the technical field of
gene engineering application, and particularly discloses a key
gene LiRabA4a for regulating and controlling the leaf color of crape myrtle and application thereof. The
nucleotide sequence of the
gene LiRabA4a is as shown in Seq 1, and the coded
amino acid sequence is as shown in Seq 2. The invention relates to
cloning of a key gene LiRabA4a for regulating and controlling the leaf color of
lagerstroemia indica. Through qRT-
PCR analysis, it is found that the LiRabA4a gene is remarkably predominantly expressed in crape myrtle leaves, and the transcriptional level of the LiRabA4a gene is related to the leaf color yellowing degree; the LiRabA4a gene is overexpressed through an
agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation method, so that the
chlorophyll content of the crape myrtle can be increased, and the leaf color is greener; liRabA4a
gene expression is inhibited, so that the
chlorophyll content is reduced, and the leaf color is yellow; the invention further relates to
heterologous expression of the LiRabA4a gene in
catalpa bungei for remarkably promoting growth and development of
catalpa bungei. The LiRabA4a gene provided by the invention can be used for directional genetic improvement of the leaf color of the
lagerstroemia indica, can be used for cultivating
lagerstroemia indica varieties with different leaf colors, and has an important application value in the aspects of
gene engineering and molecular design breeding of the
lagerstroemia indica.