Silencing of Pepper
CaFtsH1 or
CaFtsH8 Genes Alters Normal Leaf Development.
Int J Mol Sci 2023;
24:ijms24054927. [PMID:
36902361 PMCID:
PMC10003178 DOI:
10.3390/ijms24054927]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Filamentation temperature-sensitive H (FtsH) is a proteolytic enzyme that plays an important role in plant photomorphogenesis and stress resistance. However, information regarding the FtsH family genes in pepper is limited. In our research, through genome-wide identification, 18 members of the pepper FtsH family (including five FtsHi members) were identified and renamed based on phylogenetic analysis. CaFtsH1 and CaFtsH8 were found to be essential for pepper chloroplast development and photosynthesis because FtsH5 and FtsH2 were lost in Solanaceae diploids. We found that the CaFtsH1 and CaFtsH8 proteins were located in the chloroplasts and specifically expressed in pepper green tissues. Meanwhile, CaFtsH1 and CaFtsH8-silenced plants created by virus-induced gene silencing exhibited albino leaf phenotypes. In addition, CaFtsH1-silenced plants were observed to contain very few dysplastic chloroplasts and lost the capacity for photoautotrophic growth. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the expression of chloroplast-related genes such as those coding the photosynthesis-antenna protein and structural proteins was downregulated in CaFtsH1-silenced plants, resulting in the inability to form normal chloroplasts. This study improves our understanding of pepper chloroplast formation and photosynthesis through the identification and functional study of CaFtsH genes.
Collapse