Characterization and Expression Analysis of Sugar Transporters through Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) Revealed Their Role in Pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.)

• Published in: Plants (Basel) 2024-07, Vol.13 (13), p.1825
• Main Authors: Xia, Pan, Zhou, Shiyong, Zhao, Xiaoxue, Zhao, Changling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Agricultural production; Amino acids; Capsicum annuum; Chloroplasts; Chromosomes; family; fruit development; fruiting; Fruits; Gene expression; Genes; Genetic resources; Genomes; Glucose; growth and development; least squares; Microorganisms; Molecular weight; Pattern analysis; pepper; Peppers; photosynthesis; Phylogenetics; Plant resistance; PLS-SEM; Proteins; Pungent principles; Rice; stress treatment; Structural analysis; structural equation modeling; Sucrose; Sugar; sugar transporter; sugars; Transcriptomics; Vegetables
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants13131825

Pepper ( L.) is one of the most important economic crops in the world. By controlling the transport and distribution of photosynthetic products between cells and organs, sugar transporters are widely involved in growth and development, environmental adaptation, and microbial interactions. The present study was carried out at the genome-wide level to systematically characterize sugar transporters. As a result, 50 , 3 , and 29 genes were identified and classified. The expression pattern of sugar transporters in pepper was analyzed by transcriptomic data. The expression properties of sugar transporters were further explored in pepper varieties with significant differences in weight, shape, and pungency. It was shown that the pepper sugar transporter genes had obvious spatiotemporal specific expression characteristics and exhibited variety-specific expression preferences. We focus on analyzing candidate genes that may be involved in fruit development and expansion. We further explore the response of pepper sugar transporters to adversity stress using a structural equation model. Finally, we found that the , , and families are collectively involved in balancing pepper resistance to abiotic stress by coordinating the expression strengths of different family members. Our study may contribute to the functional study of pepper sugar transporter genes and create the prospect of utilizing sugar transporter gene resources to improve pepper variety.