Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Reveal the Dwarfing Mechanism of Pepper Plants Under Ultraviolet Radiation

Zejin Zhang, Zhengnan Yan, Xiangyu Ding, Haoxu Shen, Qi Liu, Jinxiu Song, Ying Liang, Na Lu and Li Tang ()
Additional contact information
Zejin Zhang: Horticulture Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610066, China
Zhengnan Yan: College of Horticulture, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Xiangyu Ding: College of Horticulture, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Haoxu Shen: College of Horticulture, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Qi Liu: College of Horticulture, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Jinxiu Song: College of Agricultural Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Ying Liang: Horticulture Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610066, China
Na Lu: Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, 6-2-1 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa 277-0882, Chiba, Japan
Li Tang: Horticulture Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chengdu 610066, China

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-18

Abstract: As a globally significant economic crop, pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) plants display excessive plant height (etiolation) in greenhouse production under an undesirable environment, leading to lodging-prone plants with reduced stress resistance. In the present study, we provided supplementary ultraviolet-B (UV-B, 280–315 nm) light to pepper plants grown in a greenhouse to assess the influences of UV-B on pepper growth, with an emphasis on the molecular mechanisms mediated through the gibberellin (GA) signaling pathway. The results indicated that UV-B significantly decreased the plant height and the fresh weight of pepper plants. However, no significant differences were observed in the chlorophyll content of pepper plants grown under natural light and supplementary UV-B radiation. The results of the transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses indicated that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly enriched in plant hormone signal transduction and that UV radiation altered the gibberellin synthesis pathway of pepper plants. Specifically, the GA3 content of the pepper plants grown with UV-B radiation decreased by 39.1% compared with those grown without supplementary UV-B radiation; however, the opposite trend was observed in GA34, GA7, and GA51 contents. In conclusion, UV-B exposure significantly reduced plant height, a phenotypic response mechanistically linked to an alteration in GA homeostasis, which may be caused by a decrease in GA3 content. Our study elucidated the interplay between UV-B and gibberellin biosynthesis in pepper morphogenesis, offering a theoretical rationale for developing UV-B photoregulation technologies as alternatives to chemical growth inhibitors.

Keywords: plant height; ultraviolet radiation; metabolic pathway; pepper; gibberellin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/14/1535/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/14/1535/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:14:p:1535-:d:1703052

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().