Purple corn (Zea mays L.) contained a higher anthocyanins and other functional phytochemicals, and was widely used in function food and pharmaceutical industries, thereby ranked a higher economic benefits for the corn industry. To explore the regulatory mechanism of anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway in purple corn, 83 Zea mays anthocyanin biosynthetic genes (ZmABGs) were identified using bioinformatic approach, classified into 5 groups byphylogenetic tree, which were widely and randomly distributed in 10 chromosomeins. Cis-acting elements analysis of ZmABGs in the promoter region indicated that the potential role of ZmABGs involved in hormone signaling pathways and responsive to different stress.. In addition, more ZmABGs genes were expressed in pollinated organ samples than un- pollinated organ samples, especially for corn pericarp through expression analysis of different tissues. qRT-PCR showed that the upregulation of?regulatory genes (ZmPAP1-b and ZmLDB38-a)?together with its target structure genes (such as ZmF3H-b, ZmDFR-b, ZmCHS-b, ZmF3’H, ZmPAL1-b, ZmPAL1-l and Zm4CH-c) might promote the anthocyanin accumulation in?Zi2-1 at early stages (10–34 days), while the down-regulation of those ZmABGs at late developmental stages (34–46?days). Taken together, our results gain insight into better understanding of the genetic mechanisms and regulatory network of anthocyanin accumulation in?maize, and providing a theoretical basis for promoting the breeding of high anthocyanin maize varieties.