Overexpression of Pepper Capsaicinoid Pathway Genes in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Objective: The Solanaceae family includes many unique and popular fruits and vegetables such as potato, tomato, and pepper. Peppers are a group of plants that produce pungent fruits favoured by many in various parts of the world. This spiciness is due to a class of compounds called capsaicinoid whic...

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Main Authors: Chudamani Sharma Prakash, Yi Hong Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Istanbul University Press 2024-12-01
Series:European Journal of Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/A541E2C173024156A56AF7FAA7744002
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author Chudamani Sharma Prakash
Yi Hong Wang
author_facet Chudamani Sharma Prakash
Yi Hong Wang
author_sort Chudamani Sharma Prakash
collection DOAJ
description Objective: The Solanaceae family includes many unique and popular fruits and vegetables such as potato, tomato, and pepper. Peppers are a group of plants that produce pungent fruits favoured by many in various parts of the world. This spiciness is due to a class of compounds called capsaicinoid which are synthesized in peppers but not in tomatoes. Both pepper and tomato genomes have been sequenced, and genes involved in the capsaicinoid biosynthesis pathway have been identified in both genomes. Along with expression profiling, there were only three genes in the tomato pathway that were not expressed. In this study, we attempted to overexpress the three pepper genes in tomato to produce spicy fruits. Materials and Methods: The three genes, BCAT (branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase), Kas (ketoacyl-ACP synthase), and CS/AT (capsaicin synthase/acyltransferase), were separated using P2Am and T2Am sequences in a tricistronic cassette driven by the 35S promoter. Transgenic tomato plants containing the gene construct were generated via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Results: RT-PCR indicated that the genes were expressed in all transgenic tomato plants. Some transgenic fruits resembled hot peppers with elongated shapes and wrinkled surfaces, but tomato fruits were not spicy based on two-person tasting evaluations. Conclusion: P2Am and T2Am sequences can be used for the overexpression of multiple genes in tomatoes. Further studies with tissue-specific promoters and metabolic profiling are necessary.
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spelling doaj-art-67d1cdf3b4dc46eaac03df71becf9d272025-08-20T03:11:02ZengIstanbul University PressEuropean Journal of Biology2618-61442024-12-0183224725310.26650/EurJBiol.2024.1442720123456Overexpression of Pepper Capsaicinoid Pathway Genes in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)Chudamani Sharma Prakash0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2923-8448Yi Hong Wang1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6414-3308University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, United-StatesUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, United-StatesObjective: The Solanaceae family includes many unique and popular fruits and vegetables such as potato, tomato, and pepper. Peppers are a group of plants that produce pungent fruits favoured by many in various parts of the world. This spiciness is due to a class of compounds called capsaicinoid which are synthesized in peppers but not in tomatoes. Both pepper and tomato genomes have been sequenced, and genes involved in the capsaicinoid biosynthesis pathway have been identified in both genomes. Along with expression profiling, there were only three genes in the tomato pathway that were not expressed. In this study, we attempted to overexpress the three pepper genes in tomato to produce spicy fruits. Materials and Methods: The three genes, BCAT (branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase), Kas (ketoacyl-ACP synthase), and CS/AT (capsaicin synthase/acyltransferase), were separated using P2Am and T2Am sequences in a tricistronic cassette driven by the 35S promoter. Transgenic tomato plants containing the gene construct were generated via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Results: RT-PCR indicated that the genes were expressed in all transgenic tomato plants. Some transgenic fruits resembled hot peppers with elongated shapes and wrinkled surfaces, but tomato fruits were not spicy based on two-person tasting evaluations. Conclusion: P2Am and T2Am sequences can be used for the overexpression of multiple genes in tomatoes. Further studies with tissue-specific promoters and metabolic profiling are necessary.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/A541E2C173024156A56AF7FAA7744002capsaicinoid pathway genesoverexpressionpeppertomato
spellingShingle Chudamani Sharma Prakash
Yi Hong Wang
Overexpression of Pepper Capsaicinoid Pathway Genes in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)
European Journal of Biology
capsaicinoid pathway genes
overexpression
pepper
tomato
title Overexpression of Pepper Capsaicinoid Pathway Genes in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)
title_full Overexpression of Pepper Capsaicinoid Pathway Genes in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)
title_fullStr Overexpression of Pepper Capsaicinoid Pathway Genes in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)
title_full_unstemmed Overexpression of Pepper Capsaicinoid Pathway Genes in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)
title_short Overexpression of Pepper Capsaicinoid Pathway Genes in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)
title_sort overexpression of pepper capsaicinoid pathway genes in tomato solanum lycopersicum l
topic capsaicinoid pathway genes
overexpression
pepper
tomato
url https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/A541E2C173024156A56AF7FAA7744002
work_keys_str_mv AT chudamanisharmaprakash overexpressionofpeppercapsaicinoidpathwaygenesintomatosolanumlycopersicuml
AT yihongwang overexpressionofpeppercapsaicinoidpathwaygenesintomatosolanumlycopersicuml