Not a very scientific source but an article at sensi seeds with good references has some interesting info for starters:
http://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/what-makes-cannabis-purple/
It makes sense the purple and red plants become warmer under light than green, intuitively anyway an interesting theory that could mean it contributes to cold but also indirectly bud rot resistance.
More interesting is this part:
"Certain strains of cannabis contain anthocyanins but are unaltered in appearance unless subjected to prolonged periods of cold temperatures. The mechanism behind this phenomenon is not fully understood, but there is a clear link between cold and enhanced anthocyanin production, as blood oranges also require a cold period to fully acquire their red colouration. It is believed that a complex set of genetic circumstances lead to this occurrence: a gene known as Ruby,
which is common to all citrus varieties but is not expressed in most, is expressed in blood orange due to the presence of a special section of DNA known as a retrotransposon, which is a mobile genetic element capable of being transcribed as part of several essential genes."
My stoner-science-sense can't help seeing the link between that underlined part and Pakistan Chitral Kush. 'Citral' was popular for a while years ago (nirvana seeds) which is supposedly pakistan chitral kush or a cross of, and the parent of lemon skunk, which crossed with SSH makes SLH.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthocyanin the pigments that cause the blue, purple, or red color. The color depends on the pH level, which as you can see on that wiki page actually makes it suitable for ph measurements. In cannabis, but also in red ornamental plants and all sorts of berries. That is the pH level in the plants, which is not the ph in the rootzone/medium but genetically determined, with environmental influences of course.
So, the target pheno needs to have high Anthocyanin production and a relatively low ph level inside the plant.
As mentioned on the wiki page:
"Many science textbooks incompletely state that autumn coloration (including red) is the result of breakdown of green chlorophyll, which unmasks the already-present orange, yellow, and red pigments (carotenoids, xanthophylls, and anthocyanins, respectively). While this is indeed the case for the carotenoids and xanthophylls (orange and yellow pigments), anthocyanins are not synthesized until the plant has begun breaking down the chlorophyll."
I'm not convinced that is always the case. Ornamental plant breeders breed for it too, without causing a chlorophyll breakdown.
One of the plants I got in flower now is above the intake and slighlty colder, caused leaves to become purple early, apparantly helped ancenstors survive by warming up. If through research and testing it shows to be negative to have high anthocyanins in leaves, I will try to go for green leaves with red bud.
Light appearantly has a huge influence as well. As many know, the purple and red leaves, buds, pistils, and trichs are more common outdoors:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1082886/
So full daylight spectrum has a much larger effect than red light. I may use my mh bulb to supplement (which is exactly what the phillips hpi-t is meant for) or get some leds to experiment.
Another one:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20876338
"
Anthocyanin accumulation is regulated negatively by ethylene signaling and positively by sugar and light signaling. However, the antagonistic interactions underlying these signalings remain to be elucidated fully."
Ethylene, the female flower hormone of which possibly a low amount is responsible for hermies. Possibly, in some intersex susceptible varieties, breeding against high Anthocyanin, could mean breeding for high ethylene and breeding out intersex.
"A growing body of evidence suggests that anthocyanins and anthocyanidins may possess analgesic properties in addition to neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory activities. These functionalities suggest a role for the cannabinoid receptor (CB) in mediating biological effects. "
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20041802
Probably going to stick with regular (for the PCK anyway) for a while since the color is observable in males too but not going to avoid crossing females when it suits me better later on. I have a lot of theory about hermies and selfing and feminizing but only one way to figure out. If feminizing leads to hermies I think it's an indirect result of the inbreeding depression inherent to selfing a single plant rather than a poulation.
Going to grow them in perlite for max control while still having plant mobility.