Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify the genetic mechanism underlying capsinoid biosynthesis in S3212, a low-pungency genotype of Capsicum frutescens. Screening of C. frutescens accessions for capsaicinoid and capsiate contents by high-performance liquid chromatography revealed that low-pungency S3212 contained high levels of capsiate but no capsaicin. Comparison of DNA coding sequences of pungent (T1 and Bird Eye) and low-pungency (S3212) genotypes uncovered a significant 12-bp deletion mutation in exon 7 of the p-AMT gene of S3212. In addition, p-AMT gene transcript levels in placental tissue were positively correlated with the degree of pungency. S3212, the low-pungency genotype, exhibited no significant p-AMT transcript levels, whereas T1, one of the pungent genotypes, displayed high transcript levels of this gene. We therefore conclude that the deletion mutation in the p-AMT gene is related to the loss of pungency in placental tissue and has given rise to the low-pungency S3212 C. frutescens genotype. C. frutescens S3212 represents a good natural source of capsinoids. Finally, our basic characterization of the uncovered p-AMT gene mutation should contribute to future studies of capsinoid biosynthesis in Capsicum.
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Acknowledgments
We express our sincere thanks to Dr. Yoshiyuki Tanaka (Okayama University) for helpful comments on this manuscript. This research was supported by MEXT Project ‘Basic research for creation of agricultural innovation by cooperation between the faculty of technology and the faculty of agriculture, Shinshu University’ and Shimizu Sumio Research Fund, Shinshu Foundation for Promotion of Agricultural and Forest Science.
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Communicated by S. Hohmann.
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Park, YJ., Nishikawa, T., Minami, M. et al. A low-pungency S3212 genotype of Capsicum frutescens caused by a mutation in the putative aminotransferase (p-AMT) gene. Mol Genet Genomics 290, 2217–2224 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-015-1071-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-015-1071-1