고추 유묘의 생장, 광합성, 호흡 및 양수분흡수에 미치는 온도 및 주야변온의 영향을 구명하기 위하여 환경조절이 가능한 생장상내에서 실험을 수행한바 얻어진 결과는 다음과 같다. 1. 고추육묘시 적온으로 생각되는 25℃에 비하여 온도가 12℃로 저하함에 따라 수분 및 N, P, K 양분흡수에 현저한 감소를 보였으며, 5℃에는 양수분의 흡수가 거의 이루어지지 않았다. 2. 엽의 광합성은 5℃에서 25℃까지는 점차적으로 증가되다가 25℃에서 최대광합성을 보였으며, 엽과 근의 호흡은 온도가 증가할수록 계속 증가하였다. 3. 지하부 건물중이 가장 높은 적정 주야온도조합은 주간 30℃와 야간 25℃로 나타났고, 주/야 온도 25/25℃, 30/15℃, 25/15℃, 15/25℃, 10/25℃ 간에는 큰 차이가 있었으며, 야간온도 5℃에서는 주간온도에 관계없이 지상부 건물중 증가가 거의 없었다.

본 연구는 동계 무가온 3중 및 4중피복 plastic house내에서 고추를 육묘하여 이들 육묘환경조건에서의 고추유묘의 생장반응을 파악하고 육묘환경의 차이에 따른 묘의 소질과 정식이후의 생장과의 관련성을 검토하고자 수행한 바 그 결과는 다음과 같다. 1. 초장, 엽수, 엽면적 및 각 기관별 건물중은 3중피복구가 4중피복구에 비하여 50%의 감소를 보였다. 가장 큰 차이는 엽면적으로 육묘기간중 3중에 비해 4중에서는 2-5배의 증가를 보여 육묘 환경의 차이가 고추유묘 생장에 현저한 영향을 미쳤다. 2. 3중피복구에서는 4중피복구에 비하여 생장초기부터 엽면적의 확보가 지연되었고, 이에 따라 고체생장율도 현저히 감소했다. 비엽면적(SLA)은 4중에서 3중에 비하여 엽의 두께가 얇았으며, 순동화율은 4중에서 생장초기에 증가하였다가 생장이 진행됨에 따라 감소되는 경향이었으나 3중에서는 파종후 6주후에 급격히 증가했다. 3. 엽면적과 전체건물중, 엽건물중간에는 직선적인 관계가 인정되었다. 그러나 엽면적과 개체생장율간에는 4중에서만 인정되었으며, 엽면적과 순동화율간에는 3중과 4중에 관계없이 직선적인 관계가 인정되지 않았다. 4. 파종후 6주째까지는 3중에서 엽으로의 건물분배가 많았고, 줄기와 뿌리로의 분배는 적었으며, 4중에서는 그 반대의 경향을 보였다. 5. 고추의 분지수는 3중과 4중에 관계없이 지수함수적 증가를 보였고, 주당 과중은 직선적인 증가를 보였다. 4중에서 육묘한 고추의 분지수는 3중에서 육묘한 고추보다 현저히 많았고 시간이 경과함에 따라 더욱 뚜렷한 경향이었다. 6. 고추유묘의 형질중 정식후 고추수량에 기여하는 정도가 가장 큰 것은 유묘의 지상부 건물중으로서 고추육묘에 있어서 양묘의 기준은 유묘의 지상부 건물중으로 결정되었으며, 또한 묘의 소질과 수량과의 관련성이 크게 인정되어 동계 시설재배시 고추의 다수를 위한 고추육묘는 지상부 건물중 증가를 위한 환경관리의 중요성이 인정되었다.

동계 무가온 다중피복 plastic house내 고추육묘의 생장에 영향을 미치는 온도, 광도 및 지온의 변화를 노지와 시설내 피복별로 조사 분석하여 고추의 적정 육묘생장 환경과 실제 무가온 다중피복 plastic house내의 환경요인과의 관련성을 파악코자 수행한 결과는 다음과 같다. 1. 12월 20일부터 2월 25일 까지 P. E.필름으로 4중피복된 턴널내에서도 최저온도는 대부분 5℃를 보여 고추의 냉해온도에 대한 노출을 피할 수 없었고 이 기간에 최고온도는 대부분 33℃를 보였으며 극값은 42℃를 보여 다소간 환기의 필요도 인정되었다. 2. 피복이 증가할수록 온도 일교차가 크게 나타나 노지는 5-10℃를 보인 반면 피복내에는 16-38℃의 일교차를 보였다. 3. 저온기에 다중피복에 의한 보온효과는 뚜렷하였으나 4중피복하에서도 12℃이하의 온도출현이 많아서 고추 시설내 육묘시 냉해피해 가능성이 상존하며, 30℃이상의 고온출현회수도 200회 이상이었다. 4. 광도에 있어서도 피복이 증가할수록 광도는 감소하였고 온도증가는 크게 광의존성이었으며, 최저광도는 피복에 관계없이 고추의 광보상점 이하를 보여주었다. 5. 12월 20일부터 2월 중순까지 기온은 오전 10시 이후에야 고추의 생육한계온도인 10-12℃이상이 되었고, 오후 4시 이후에는 기온은 12℃이상이 되어도 광도가 급격히 낮아 고추유묘의 광합성 및 생장에 제한적일 것으로 사료되었다. 6. 시설내 최저지온은 동계 4중피복내에서도 10℃내외로서 고추생장에는 생리적 피해온도 범위에 속하였다. 7. 광주지방에 45년간 온도자료를 보면 노지 최저온도의 극값은 1월 5일에 -19.4℃를 기록하였으며 대부분 장기자료로부터 얻은 평균에서 ±5℃의 편차를 보였다.

본 실험은 유기물 대체재료로서 peatmoss(원예용 배양토)의 물리, 화학적 특성을 조사하고, 배양상 종류와 관수방법이 고추묘의 생육에 미치는 영향을 보고자 실시하였으며 그 결과는 다음과 같다. 1. Peatmoss에 밭흙을 1:1, 1:2로 배합한 경우에도 고추묘의 생육에 적합한 화학적 성질을 보였다. 2. 고추묘의 발아율은 저면관수보다 철수관수 처리시 월등히 높았으며, peatmoss, TKS 단독 처리구를 제외하고는 배양토 종류간의 차이는 없었다. 3. 전반적으로 철수관수보다 저면관수 처리시 생육이 양호하였으며, 특히 peatmoss와 밭흙을 1:1, 1:2로 배합한 처리구의 생육이 가장 양호하였다.

과육량(果肉量)이 많은 우량(優良) 고추품종(品種) 육종(育種)을 위한 효율적(效率的)인 선발기준(選拔基準)을 마련코자 8개(個) 품종(品種)과 이들을 이면교배(二面交配)하여 얻는 28개(個) 조합(組合)들은 공시(供試)하여 과장(果長), 과경(果徑), 과육후(果肉厚)(생체(生體)와 건체(乾體)) 및 과육중(果肉重)(생체(生體)와 건체(乾體)) 등(等) 과육구성형질간(果肉構成形質間)의 상관관계(相關關係)와 과육중(果肉重)과 종자중(種子重) 및 과육중(果肉重)에 대(對)한 종자중(種子重)의 비율간(比率間)의 상관정도(相關程度)를 밝히고 과육중(果肉重)(생체(生體)와 건체(乾體))에 대(對)한 경로계수분석(經路係數分析)을 하였던 바 얻어진 결과(結果)를 요약(要約)하면 다음과 같다. 1. 친(親)에 있어서 과경(果徑)과 생과육후(生果肉厚), 과육중간(果肉中間), 생과육후(生果肉厚)와 과육중간(果肉重間), 그리고 생과육중(生果肉重)과 건과육중간(乾果肉重間)에는 높은 정(正)의 유전(遺傳) 및 표현형상관(表現型相關)이 있었다. 2. 에 있어서 과장(果長)은 건과육후(乾果肉厚)와는 부(負)의 상관(相關)을 과육중(果肉重)과는 높은 정(正)의 상관(相關)을 보였으며 과경(果徑)과 과육후(果肉厚) 및 과육중간(果肉重間), 과육후(果肉厚)와 과육중간(果肉重間), 그리고 생과육중(生果肉重)과 건과육중간(乾果肉重間)에는 높은 정(正)의 상관(相關)이 있었다. 3. 과육구성형질(果肉構成形質)에 있어서 과 양친평균간(兩親平均間)에는 유의(有意)한 정(正)의 상관(相關)이 있었다. 4. 과육중(果肉重)과 종자중간(種子重間)에는 정(正)의 상관(相關)이 있었고 과육중(果肉重)과 과육중(果肉重)에 대(對)한 종자중(種子重)의 비율간(比率間)에는 부(負)의 상관(相關)이 있었다. 5. 과육중(果肉重)에 대(對)한 경로계수분석(經路係數分析) 결과(結果) 과장(果長), 과경(果徑), 과육후(果肉厚)가 모두 정(正)의 직접결과(直接結果)를 나타내었고 에서 과장(果長)이 직접효과(直接效果)가 가장 컸다.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of phosphorus acid (H3PO3) addition to the horticultural bed soil on the initial growth of red pepper (Capsicum annuum L. cv.), cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv.), and kimchi cabbage (Brassica campestris L. ssp. pekinensis (Lour.) Rupr. cv.). The stem heights of red pepper and cucumber were 46.1% and 23.0% greater in the 50 mg/L of phosphorus acid treatment than the untreated (control). Further, the stem diameter of pepper and cucumber were 48.7% and 23.0% greater in the 50 mg/L of phosphorus acid treatment than the control. In addition, the number of kimchi cabbage leaves was 47.5% greater in the 50 mg/L of phosphorus acid treatment than the control. The dry weights of red pepper, cucumber and kimchi cabbage were 72.9%, 16.5%, and 30.4% heavier in the 50 mg/L than the control, respectively. Cations (K, Ca, and Mg) and total phosphorus (T - P) were quantitatively analyzed for these three horticultural crops. The concentrations of K, Ca, and Mg, and T - P were higher in the 50 mg/L of phosphorus acid than the control, respectively. Based on the results obtained in this study, it appears that treatment of phosphorus acid in horticultural bed soil enhanced the growth of red pepper, cucumber and Kimchi cabbage.

Background : The interests in the consumption of red pepper (Capsicum annum L.) is, to a large extent due to its content of bioactive compounds and their importance as dietary antioxidants and Red pepper is commonly used as food material and a broad variety of medicinal applications, Therefore, we investigated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of red pepper. Methods and Results : This present study was evaluated the effect of red pepper ethanol and distilled water extracts on antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Antioxidant activity of the extracts were evaluated by the assay of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and reducing power, along with the determination of total phenolic and flavonoid contents. The ethanol and the water extracts showed strong antioxidant activity by the testing methods. Total phenol content was high in ethanol extract, whereas total flavonoid content was high in water extract. The red pepper extract exhibited high scavenging activity against DPPH radicals and showed high reducing power. In vitro cytotoxic assay, red pepper extract showed noncytotoxic effect in the RAW 264.7 cells with or without LPS. The level of nitric oxide (NO) production induced by LPS decreased in a dose-dependent manner (0.25 ㎍/ ㎖ – 1.0 ㎎/㎖). Proinfllamatory cytokine level including TNF-ɑ and IL-6 decresed in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells by treating red pepper extracts. Conclusion : These results indicate that the ethanol and distilled water extracts of red pepper can be used as an anti-proliferative therapeutic agent or functional food.

Bacterial wilt (BW) caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is one of the most common soil-borne vascular diseases of many solanaceous crops such as pepper and tomato. This study aimed to develop molecular markers closely linked to bacterial wilt resistance genes using a 150 F8 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population obtained from a cross of ‘YCM334’ x ‘Taean’. For pathogen inoculations, R. solanacearum isolate WR-1 was cultured on NB medium at 28℃ for 48 h and a bacterial suspension was adjusted to 1 x 107 to 1 X 108 CFU/mL (A 600 = 0.3 to 0.4). Each RIL and the parents were sown in a 72-cell plastic tray filled with sterilized soil, and the seedlings were inoculated at the 6 to 8 leaf stage using soil-drenching (3 to 5 ml/ plant) inoculation methods with 3 replications. After 10 days post inoculation (dpi), each line was evaluated visually for occurrence of bacterial wilt ranging from 1 (most resistant) to 5 (most susceptible). Two candidate R-response genes, AT4G14130 and AT3G23730, were selected to find SNPs between YCM334 and Taean. In previous transcriptome analysis, these two genes were reported as significantly differentially expressed in Capsicum annuum L. root inoculated with R. solanacearum, which were up-regulated in a resistant genotype. Once the synteny of the gene locations between Arabidopsis and pepper was documented, the sequences on pepper chromosome 12 were obtained from pepper. v.1.55 (http://solgenomics.net). SNP markers associated with resistance to BW will be mapped using pepper RIL population.

Plant breeding requires genetic diversity of useful traits for crop improvement. EMS-induced mutation is practiced to generate mutations at loci regulating economically important traits and/or to knock out the genes to elucidate their functions. The present study was aimed to induce mutations in a Korean local land race Capsicum annuum ‘Yuwol-cho’. This accession is pungent and also has advantage to mature early. A total of about 1,500 M2 families were screened and three non-pungent mutants were identified and crossed with wild type ‘Yuwol-cho’. After phenotyping of F2 population for pungency, MutMap approach will be used to identify the genes controlling the pungency in mutants. In addition to this, another C. annuum accession “Micro-Pep” was used to develop a mutant population. Micro-Pep is a small, pungent pepper generally used as ornamental purpose. Having compact growth habit, and small size, it has advantage to handle and utilize easily in mutation study and molecular research. On the basis of preliminary experiment 1.3% of mutagen was used for treatment of pepper seeds and 30% less germination percentage was observed in EMS treated seeds in comparison to control seeds. A total of 4,674 M1 plants are grown under greenhouse condition and M2 population will be studied for characterization of phenotypic variation including fruit color and pungency. Newly constructed mutant populations will be valuable assets for identification of functional genes and molecular breeding of pepper.

Capsinoids, low-pungent compounds, have the same biological effects as capsaicinoids such as anticancer and anti-obesity. A precursor of capsinoids, vanillyl alcohol, is known to be produced by mutations in the putative-aminotransferase (pAMT) gene. In the previous study, ‘SNU11-001’ (Capsicum chinense) containing high levels of capsinoids was identified in germplasm collections of Capsicum. This collection has a unique mutation in the pAMT gene that can cause dysfunction of this gene. In order to develop pepper varieties containing high capsinoids contents, marker-assisted foreground and background selections were performed during backcross breeding. Compared to the conventional backcrossing, marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC) is extremely useful for recovery of a recurrent parent’s genetic background. For foreground selection, plants carrying the pAMT/pamt genotype were selected from a BC1F1 and BC2F1 populations using SCAR markers derived from the unique pAMT mutation of ‘SNU11-001’. To obtain background selection markers, a total of 412 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers was screened on ‘Shinghong’ parental lines and ‘SNU11-001’ to obtain polymorphic SNP markers. Of the 412 SNP markers, 144 and 204 polymorphic SNP markers evenly distributed in pepper genome were finally selected. BC1F1 and BC2F1 plants carrying the pAMT/pamt genotype were subjected to background selection using the selected marker sets. Multiple genotype analysis was done using a high-throughput genotyping system (EP1TM, Fluidigm®, USA). As a result, one BC1F1 plant 84% similar to the recurrent parent and several BC2F1 plants more than 96% recovery rate of the recurrent parent were selected. Genetic backgrounds of the selected BC2F1 plants were evaluated by the genotype-by-sequencing (GBS) method in order to confirm the background selection results using the SNP marker set. GBS results showed that recovery rate and positions of introgressed segments were well matched between two methods demonstrating MABC can be successfully done with a couple hundred SNP markers.

Sessile organism, plants constitutively challenged with pathogens have been developed various strategies for protection, such as preformed and inducible defense mechanisms. Receptor-like Proteins(RLPs) play critical roles in defense response as well as in plant development and growth. The domain structure of RLPs consists of extracellular leucine–rich repeats, a transmembrane domain, and a short cytoplasmic tail. Here, we identified putative 170 RLP genes from pepper genome using in-house bioinformatics pipeline. The distribution of RLPs on pepper pseudomolecule showed uneven spread and a number of RLPs were physically clustered by tandem array in the specific chromosome. Motifs analysis of pepper RLPs showed conserved LRR sequences (LxxLxxLDLxxNxxxGxIP). To understand further functional and evolutionary characteristics, evolutional relationship and gene profiling analysis are on progress.

Phytophthora capsici an Oomycete pathogen is a major challenge to the pepper (Capsicum spp.) production around the world. Control measures are proved ineffective, so breeding resistant cultivars are the most promising strategy against the pathogen. Resistance against P. capsici is governed by quantitative trait loci (QTL). According to previous studies on QTL detection, the QTL on pepper chromosome 5 is a major contributor to resistance. In this study, to exploit the involvement of this QTL and identify its contributing genes, the F2 population derived from a cross between ECW30R and CM334 was inoculated with a medium virulence P. capsici strain JHAI1-7 zoospores at the 6-8 leaf stage. Composite interval mapping revealed two major QTLs; QTL5-1 from 7 days post inoculation (dpi) and QTL5-2 from 16 dpi on chromosome 5. To characterize and detect interactions of the two QTLs, near isogenic lines (NIL) were constructed by crossing Tean and recombinant inbred line (RIL) derived from a cross between YCM334 and Tean. RILs were screened with P. capsici strain MY-1 and resistant lines were selected. Among the resistance RILs most closely related to Tean were selected using AFLP and SSR genotyping data. These RILs were named as YT39-2 and YT143-2. To develop more advanced NILs, two rounds of marker-assisted backcrossing were done using a high-throughput SNP genotyping system (EPI Fluidigm, USA). Among the NILs derived from YT39-2, YT39-2-64 contains only QTL5-1 whereas YT39-2-61 and YT39-2-69 were identified to have both QTLs. On the other hand, YT143-2-55-7 with the highest Tean genetic background contains QTL5-1 only. In the next step, the 3 different NILs having QTL5-1, QTL5-2 individually and both QTLs will be identified. Furthermore, phenotyping and fine mapping will be done for the analysis of individual and interaction effects of QTLs.

Chloroplast (cp) genome sequences provide a valuable source for DNA barcoding. Molecular phylogenetic studies have concentrated on DNA sequencing of conserved gene loci. However, this approach is time consuming and more difficult to implement when gene organization differs among species. Here we report the complete re-sequencing of the cp genome of Capsicum pepper (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum) using the Illumina platform. The total length of the cp genome is 156,817 bp with a 37.7% overall GC content. A pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 50,284 bp were separated by a small single copy (SSC; 18,948 bp) and a large single copy (LSC; 87,446 bp). The number of cp genes in C. annuum var. glabriusculum is the same as that in other Capsicum species. Variations in the lengths of LSC, SSC and IR regions were the main contributors to the size variation in the cp genome of this species. A total of 125 simple sequence repeat (SSR) and 48 insertions or deletions variants were found by sequence alignment of Capsicum cp genome. These findings provide a foundation for further investigation of cp genome evolution in Capsicum and other higher plants.

Chloroplast DNA sequences are a versatile tool for species identification and phylogenetic reconstruction of land plants. Different chloroplast loci have been utilized for phylogenetic classification of plant species. However, there is no evidence for a short sequence that can distinguish all plant species from each other. Molecular markers derived from the complete chloroplast genome can provide effective tools for species identification and phylogenetic resolution. Thus, the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Korean landrace “Subicho” pepper (Capsicum annuum var. annuum) has been determined here. The total length of the chloroplast genome is 156,878 bp, with 37.7% overall GC content. A pair of IRs (inverted repeats) of 25,801 bp was separated by a small single copy (SSC) region of 17,929 bp and a large single copy (LSC) region of 87,347 bp. The chloroplast genome harbors 132 known genes, including 87 protein-coding genes, 8 ribosomal RNA genes, and 37 tRNA genes. A total of seven of these genes are duplicated in the inverted repeat regions, nine genes and six tRNA genes contain one intron, while two genes and a ycf have two introns. Analysis revealed 144 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci and 96 variants, mostly located in the non-coding regions. The types and abundances of repeat units in Capsicum species were relatively conserved and these loci will be useful for developing molecular markers.

본 연구에서는 우리 식생활과 가장 밀접한 관계가 있는 고추(청고추, 홍고추)를 유기 및 관행으로 재배하여 품질특성과 기능성성분 함량을 비교 분석하였다. 유기 및 관행재배 고추의 품질특성은 pH, 가용성고형물 함량, 경도 및 색도를 분석하였다. 그 결과 유기 및 관행재배 고추의 가용성고형물이 유기재배에서 2.6~10% 높은 경향을 나타내었으나 경도는 관행재배에서 높게 나타났다. 기능성 성분은 클로로필 함량, ASTA 값, 총페놀성화합물 함량 및 SEM을 통한 세포조직을 검토하여 비교분석 하였다. 청고추의 경우 유기재배에서 관행재배에 비해 녹색도(-a value)값이 더 높게 나타났으며 chlorophyll 함량 또한 a, b, total 값이 전반적으로 높게 나타났다. 홍고추의 경우 유기재배에서 붉은색의 정도를 나타내는 ASTA 값이 28% 더 높게 나타났다. 또한 항산화효과가 있는 것으로 알려진 총페놀성화합물 함량은 청고추와 홍고추에서 모두 유기재배가 관행재배 보다 더 높은 것으로 조사되었다. 따라서 고추 유기재배의 경우 고추 색깔에 관계없이 품질특성 측면에서 색택이 더 우수하고 기능성 측면에서 또한 더 우수한 것으로 사료된다.

In order to find out anticancer activity of Korean pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), the cytotoxicity against 8 cell lines including 293 (normal kidney cells) and A-431 (epidermoid carcinoma cells) of extracts by extraction solvents and plant parts were investigated using MTT assay. Also the correlation between content of capsaicin known as anticancer ingredient and cytotoxicity of extracts from pepper were analyzed. The distilled water extracts from seed and germinated seed showed very high cytotoxicity against 6 cancer cell lines including A549 (lung carcinoma cells), AGS (stomach adenocarcinoma cells), HeLa (cervix adenocarcinoma cells), HepG2 (hepatoblastoma cells), HT-29 (colon adenocarcinoma cells), and MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma cells). But 80% ethanol and methanol extracts showed cytotoxicity against 293 and AGS. The RC50, that was, the concentration of sample required for 50% reduction of cell viability, of seed and germinated seed extracts against AGS were 33.4~389.1μg/mℓ and 63.9~1,316.7μg/mℓ, respectively, so anticancer activity was higher in seed than in germinated seed. In capsaicin contents, seed with high cytotoxicity and pericarp with a little cytotoxicity contained 47.4~1,260.0μg/g and 58.3~1,498.0μg/g, respectively. As these results, the correlation was not between cytotoxicity and capsaicin content.

Capsinoids, low-pungent compounds, have the same biological effects as capsaicinoids such as anticancer and anti-obesity. A precursor of capsinoids, vanillyl alcohol, is known to be produced by mutations in the p-aminotransferase (p-AMT) gene. In the previous study, SNU11-001 (C. chinense) containing high levels of capsinoids was found in germplasm collections of Seoul National University. We found that this collection has a unique mutation in the p-AMT gene. In order to develop a cultivar containing high capsinoids contents, marker-assisted foreground and background selection were performed in this study. Backcrossing is an effective breeding method for introducing useful traits to an elite cultivar. Compared to conventional backcrossing, marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC) is extremely useful for recovery of a recurrent parent’s genetic background. To obtain background selection markers, a total of 412 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers was screened to obtain polymorphic SNP markers between ‘Takanotsume (C. annuum)’ and ‘SNU11-001’. Of the 412 SNP markers, 96 polymorphic SNP markers evenly distributed in pepper genome were finally selected. Plants carrying the pAmt/pamt genotype were selected from a BC1F1 population using SCAR markers derived from the unique p-AMT mutation of SNU11-001. BC1F1 plants carrying the pAmt/pamt genotype were subjected to background selection. Multiple genotype analysis was done using Fluidigm platform (BioMark). Once we obtain plants carrying most similar genetic background to recurrent parent, capsinoids contents will be measured and another round of MABC be done to obtain plants containing high levels of capsinoids.

Next generation sequencing technologies have proven to be a rapid and cost-effective means to assemble and characterize gene content and identify molecular markers in various organisms. Pepper (Capsicum annuum L., Solanaceae), is a major staple vegetable crop, which is economically important and has worldwide distribution. High-throughput transcriptome profiling of two pepper cultivars, Mandarin and Blackcluster using 454 GS-FLX pyrosequencing yielded 279,221 and 316,357 sequenced reads with a total 120.44 and 142.54 Mb of sequence data (average read length of 431 and 450 nucleotides). These reads resulted from 17,525 and 16,341 ‘isogroups’ and were assembled into 19,388 and 18,057 isotigs, and 22,217 and 13,153 singletons for both the cultivars, respectively. Assembled sequences were annotated functionally based on homology to genes in multiple public databases. Detailed sequence variants analysis identified a total of 9,701 and 12,741 potential SNPs for both cultivars, which eventually resulted in 1,025 and 1,059 genotype specific SNPs, for both the varieties, respectively. These markers for pepper will be highly valuable for marker-assisted breeding and other genetic studies.

Capsinoids, low-pungent compounds, have the same biological effects as capsaicinoids such as anticancer and anti-obesity. A precursor of capsinoids, vanillyl alcohol, is known to be produced by mutations in the p-aminotransferase (p-AMT) gene. In the previous study, SNU11-001 (C. chinense) containing high levels of capsinoids was found in germplasm collections of Seoul National University. We found that this collection has a unique mutation in the p-AMT gene. In order to develop a cultivar containing high capsinoids contents, marker-assisted foreground and background selection were performed in this study. Backcrossing is an effective breeding method for introducing useful traits to an elite cultivar. Compared to conventional backcrossing, marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC) is extremely useful for recovery of a recurrent parent’s genetic background. To obtain background selection markers, a total of 412 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers was screened to obtain polymorphic SNP markers between ‘Takanotsume (C. annuum)’ and ‘SNU11-001’. Of the 412 SNP markers, 96 polymorphic SNP markers evenly distributed in pepper genome were finally selected. Plants carrying the pAmt/pamt genotype were selected from a BC1F1 population using SCAR markers derived from the unique p-AMT mutation of SNU11-001. BC1F1 plants carrying the pAmt/pamt genotype were subjected to background selection. Multiple genotype analysis was done using Fluidigm platform (BioMark). Once we obtain plants carrying most similar genetic background to recurrent parent, capsinoids contents will be measured and another round of MABC be done to obtain plants containing high levels of capsinoids

Fruit quality traits like heat, color and flavor are unique and important for pepper cuisines and industrial use. Pepper pigments include chlorophyll, carotenoids, anthocyanin and red pigments like capsanthin are unique carotenoids to capsicum spp. So developing carotenoids-rich peppers and use of red pigments extraction along with capsaicinoids are one of interest pepper breeding goals in the world. Horticultural traits of 113 germplasms introduced by international cooperative research with YASS of China were evaluated to select promissing materials for high quality peppers during the past 3 years. All of germplasms including 60 local peppers were belong to C. annuum and fruit characteristics were diverse. Especially fruit chemical compositions like ASTA color, capsaicinoids and sugars were evaluated compared with korean commercial peppers. Average contents of ASTA　color was 98±37, 55±63mg in capsaicinoids and 12±6% in total sugars. ASTA color which generally means red pigments content was over 120 in 25 germplasms including over 200 in 2 germplasms. Higher ASTA colors were observed in different fruit types. Capsaicinoids content was over 90mg/100g in 24 germplasms including 5 germpalsms over 200mg. Especially higher capsaicinoids were higher in local peppers with round and wrinkled fruit shape. And total sugar content was over 20% in 10 germplasms. Germplasms of different fruit shapes and characteristics will be useful materials for diverse fruit quality breeding.