AUTHOR=Shu Huangying , Zhang Yu , He Chengyao , Altaf Muhammad Ahsan , Hao Yuanyuan , Liao Daolong , Li Lin , Li Caichao , Fu Huizhen , Cheng Shanhan , Zhu Guopeng , Wang Zhiwei 

TITLE=Establishment of in vitro regeneration system and molecular analysis of early development of somatic callus in Capsicum chinense and Capsicum baccatum

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.1025497

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.1025497

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Regeneration is extremely important to pepper genetic development; however, the molecular mechanisms of how the callus reactivates cell proliferation and promotes cell reprogramming remain elusive in pepper. In the present study, <italic>C. baccatum</italic> (HNUCB81 and HNUCB226) and <italic>C. chinense</italic> (HNUCC22 and HNUCC16) were analyzed to reveal callus initiation by <italic>in vitro</italic> regeneration, histology, and transcriptome. We successfully established an efficient <italic>in vitro</italic> regeneration system of two cultivars to monitor the callus induction of differential genotypes, and the regenerated plants were obtained. Compared to <italic>C. chinense</italic>, there was a higher callus induction rate in <italic>C. baccatum</italic>. The phenotype of <italic>C. baccatum</italic> changed significantly and formed vascular tissue faster than <italic>C. chinense</italic>. The KEGG enrichment analysis found that plant hormone transduction and starch and sucrose metabolism pathways were significantly enriched. In addition, we identified that the <italic>WOX7</italic> gene was significantly up-regulated in HNUCB81 and HNUCB226 than that in HNUCC22 and HNUCC16, which may be a potential function in callus formation. These results provided a promising strategy to improve the regeneration and transformation of pepper plants.</p>