Abstract: Anthocyanins, responsible for a series of flower color changes from red to blue in most plants, are the principal pigment in flowers with important nutritional and medical usages. At present, the biosynthetic pathway of anthocyanins is understood continuously, and many enzymes and genes are obtained. A lot of new transgenic plants with commercial values have been created. In this paper, the current advances in research of key genes in the biosynthetic pathway of anthocyanins are briefly reviewed and the progress on the application of these genes in plant genetic engineering is discussed. Prospectives of the study on the anthocyanins genes are elucidated in the end.

Key words: anthocyanins, flavonoids, flower color, genetic engineering