Spatial patterns of red, purple, and blue colors due to plant pigments called anthocyanins appear in a wide variety of flower petals. Activator and inhibitor proteins involved in anthocyanin synthesis in Mimulus (monkeyflowers) have been identified, and an activator–inhibitor system based on the classic Gierer–Meinhardt system has been proposed as a mathematical model. Analysis in this paper provides a prediction for the critical value of a dimensionless parameter, the ratio of the degradation rate constants of the inhibitor and activator, for pattern formation to occur, and numerical simulations demonstrate the potential for this system to form disordered hexagonal or stripe patterns. We provide experimental evidence for spatial variation in total anthocyanin concentration and for concentration-dependent anthocyanin association. Extending the mathematical model to include anthocyanin transport and diffusion, a series of molecular transformations encompassing acid-base and hydration (speciation) reactions, and self association, we predict that spatial color patterns are accompanied by complex spatial variation in the degree of self association. An important consequence of these studies is a proposal that anthocyanin association allows for colored anthocyanin species to be present in large mole fractions in cell vacuoles despite the fact that the typical vacuolar pH range favors the formation of colorless species.

由称为花青素的植物色素产生的红色、紫色和蓝色的空间图案出现在各种各样的花瓣中。 Mimulus（猴花）中参与花青素合成的激活剂和抑制剂蛋白已被鉴定，并且基于经典 Gierer-Meinhardt 系统的激活剂-抑制剂系统已被鉴定出来。被提出作为数学模型。本文的分析提供了对无量纲参数的临界值（抑制剂和激活剂的降解速率常数之比）的预测，以形成图案，并且数值模拟证明了该系统形成无序六边形或条纹的潜力模式。我们为总花青素浓度的空间变化和浓度依赖性花青素关联提供了实验证据。将数学模型扩展到包括花青素传输和扩散、包括酸碱和水合（形态）反应的一系列分子转化以及自缔合，我们预测空间颜色模式伴随着自缔合程度的复杂空间变化。这些研究的一个重要结果是，尽管典型的液泡 pH 范围有利于无色物质的形成，但花青素缔合允许有色花青素物质以大摩尔分数存在于细胞液泡中。