BAN Guoliang1, 2, CAO Yacong2, ZHANG Zhenghai2, YU Hailong2, WU Huamao2, LI Rongxuan2, ZHAO Hong2, ZHANG Weili2, NIE Zhixing3, SONG Hongxia1, WANG Lihao2
Abstract:Pepper red pigment is currently the largest-selling pure natural edible pigment in the world.Devlopment of high pepper red pigment varieties has become urgent.In this study,through genome-wide association study(GWAS)of capsanthin content of 255 core collections of Capsicum annuum,intervals signifi cantly associated with capsanthin were found on chromosomes 1,2,3,5,6,8,9,10,11,and 12,and a total of 93 genes were identifi ed in the signifi cant association intervals.Based on functional annotation and transcriptional expression data,three candidate genes affecting capsanthin content in pepper fruits were predicted.Through BSA-seq analysis of the F2 population constructed from high-pepper red pigment material Pep-340 and low-pepper red pigment material Pep-276,the intervals associated with the pepper red pigment content of pepper were localized on chromosomes 1,3,5 and 10,in which the localized intervals on chromosomes 3 and 5 were similar to or overlapped with the significantly associated intervals in the GWAS analysis.Using InDel molecular markers in these two intervals,genetic linkage analysis was performed, and the gene regulating the red pigment content of pepper was localized on chromosome 3 at qCC3.1,with a physical location ranging from 22.8 Mb to 25.9 Mb,containing 99 genes.According to the functional annotation and transcriptome analysis,four candidate genes,Capana03g001314,Capana03g001325, Capana03g001334 and Capana03g001387,affecting pepper red pigment content in pepper fruits were predicted.The results laid the foundation for fine mapping of genes regulating the red pigment content of pepper and molecular marker-assisted selection breeding.