Comparison of carbohydrate partitioning and expression patterns of some genes involved in carbohydrate biosynthesis pathways in annual and biennial species of Cichorium spp.

Variation in metabolism and partitioning of carbohydrates, particularly fructans, between annual and perennial Cichorium species remains a challenging topic. To address this problem, an annual (endive, Cichorium endive L. var. Crispum; Asteraceae) and a biennial species (chicory, Cichorium intybus L. var. Witloof; Asteraceae) were compared with in terms of variability in carbohydrate accumulation and expression patterns of fructan-active enzyme...