Background: Flower buds of Anthurium andraeanum frequently cease to grow and abort during the early flowering stage, resulting in prolonged planting times and increased commercialization costs. Nevertheless, limited knowledge exists of the mechanism of flower development after initiation in A. andraeanum. Results: In this study, the measurement of carbohydrate flow and intensity between leaves and flowers during different growth stages showed that tender leaves are strong sinks and their concomitant flowers are weak ones. This suggested that the tender leaves compete with their concomitant flower buds for carbohydrates during the early growth stages, potentially causing the abortion of the flower buds. The analysis of transcriptomic differentially expressed genes suggested that genes related to sucrose metabolism and auxin response play an important role during flower bud development. Particularly, co-expression network analysis found that AaSPL12 is a hub gene engaged in flower development by collaborating carbohydrate and auxin signals. Yeast Two Hybrid assays revealed that AaSPL12 can interact with AaARP, a protein that serves as an indicator of dormancy. Additionally, the application of exogenous IAA and sucrose can suppress the expression of AaARP, augment the transcriptional abundance of AaSPL12, and consequently expedite flower development in Anthurium andraeanum. Conclusions: Collectively, our findings indicated that the combination of auxin and sugar signals could potentially suppress the repression of AaARP protein to AaSPL12, thus advancing the development of flower buds in Anthurium andraeanum.

The chloroplast genome of Anthurium andraeanum Linden 1877 was assembled and analyzed in this study. The genome size is 162,560 bp, of which contains a large single-copy (LSC) region with 88,814 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region with 22,856 bp, and two inverted repeat regions (IRA and IRB) with 25,445 bp, respectively. The plastome contains 124 genes, including 80 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNAs, six rRNAs and one pseudogene. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that A. andraeanum is a member of Pothoideae and sister to A. huixtlense.

Tropical ornamental Anthurium andraeanum requires substantial electrical heating for overwintering when cultivated in greenhouses in subtropical regions, making cold tolerance improvement a key factor for cost reduction. However, whether exogenous 6-Benzylaminopurine (6-BA) can enhance cold hardiness in Anthurium and its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we conducted a controlled experiment to compare the physiological and biochemical responses of A. andraeanum ‘Alabama’ subjected to low-temperature stress following foliar application of 6-BA versus water. Our results show that, compared with water treatment, 6-BA application was associated with better preservation of subcellular structural integrity, higher proline accumulation, lower hydrogen peroxide content, decreased relative electrical conductivity, increased leaf fresh weight, dry weight, and area along with reduced water content, and lower stomatal density. These findings suggest that, under defined low-temperature conditions, 6-BA is associated with enhanced physiological performance in A. andraeanum, potentially through coordinated effects on subcellular stability, osmotic adjustment, reactive oxygen species accumulation, leaf morphology and water metabolism, and stomatal density. This work provides a theoretical basis and technical reference for cold-tolerant cultivation of Anthurium.