Nature Communications (Sep 2023)

Genomes of cultivated and wild Capsicum species provide insights into pepper domestication and population differentiation

  • Feng Liu,
  • Jiantao Zhao,
  • Honghe Sun,
  • Cheng Xiong,
  • Xuepeng Sun,
  • Xin Wang,
  • Zhongyi Wang,
  • Robert Jarret,
  • Jin Wang,
  • Bingqian Tang,
  • Hao Xu,
  • Bowen Hu,
  • Huan Suo,
  • Bozhi Yang,
  • Lijun Ou,
  • Xuefeng Li,
  • Shudong Zhou,
  • Sha Yang,
  • Zhoubing Liu,
  • Fang Yuan,
  • Zhenming Pei,
  • Yanqing Ma,
  • Xiongze Dai,
  • Shan Wu,
  • Zhangjun Fei,
  • Xuexiao Zou

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41251-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

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Abstract Pepper (Capsicum spp.) is one of the earliest cultivated crops and includes five domesticated species, C. annuum var. annuum, C. chinense, C. frutescens, C. baccatum var. pendulum and C. pubescens. Here, we report a pepper graph pan-genome and a genome variation map of 500 accessions from the five domesticated Capsicum species and close wild relatives. We identify highly differentiated genomic regions among the domesticated peppers that underlie their natural variations in flowering time, characteristic flavors, and unique resistances to biotic and abiotic stresses. Domestication sweeps detected in C. annuum var. annuum and C. baccatum var. pendulum are mostly different, and the common domestication traits, including fruit size, shape and pungency, are achieved mainly through the selection of distinct genomic regions between these two cultivated species. Introgressions from C. baccatum into C. chinense and C. frutescens are detected, including those providing genetic sources for various biotic and abiotic stress tolerances.