Objective  The core enzymes in anthocyanin anabolism were investigated, to provid a reference for further studies on the anthocyanin metabolism of G. bicolor and similar plants.

  Method  Transcriptome of Gynura bicolor and G. divaricata were sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq 2 500 platform for the study.

  Result  The Denovo mapping on 8 databases showed that 43 369 out of 80 798 unigenes annotated differences between the two wild vegetables. Among them, 104 unigenes were identified to relate to the anthocyanin anabolism based on two databases on the non-redundant and Swiss-Prot proteins. They included 10 chalcone synthases, 5 chalcone isomerases, 36 flavanone 3-hydroxylases, 19 dihydroflavonols, 9 anthocyanidin synthases, and 25 flavonoid 3-O-glucosyl transferases. According to the average FPKMs, 7 of the 15 differentially expressed genes (i.e., 1, 1, 3, 4, 2, and 4 genes from each of the 6 enzyme categories) between the 2 wild vegetables were found to be up-regulated, and 8 down-regulated.

  Conclusion  There were 15 enzymes in the 104 unigenes appeared to closely associate with the anthocyanin synthesis in G. bicolor and G. divaricata.