Peppers as a source of genes and/or promoters of interest for other crops
Peppers have been used as a model for the study of carotenoid biosynthesis. Two
Genes that encode major chromoplast proteins have been cloned63 that encodea
capsanthin/capsoburin synthase (ccs) involved in the synthesis of a red
carotenoid pigment not found in tomato and a fibrillin (fib), a structural protein
involved in carotenoid deposition in chromoplasts.64 Both genes(ccs and fib) are
strongly induced at the early stages of ripening in peppers. The two promoters of
the genes, specially the fib promoter were exceptionally strong in expressing
GUS activity in ripening tomato fruit starting at the late immature-green stage.65 Interestingly, although ethylene is considered not to be involved in the ripening
of the non-climacteric pepper fruit, it influenced GUS expression driven by both
the ccs and fib promoters in the climacteric tomato fruit.