Table_1_Analysis of the Expression and Function of Key Genes in Pepper Under Low-Temperature Stress.XLS

The mechanism of resistance of plants to cold temperatures is very complicated, and the molecular mechanism and related gene network in pepper are largely unknown. Here, during cold treatment, we used cluster analysis (k-means) to classify all expressed genes into 15 clusters, 3,680 and 2,405 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were observed in the leaf and root, respectively. The DEGs associated with certain important basic metabolic processes, oxidoreductase activity, and overall membrane compositions were most significantly enriched. In addition, based on the homologous sequence alignment of Arabidopsis genes, we identified 14 positive and negative regulators of the ICE-CBF-COR module in pepper, including CBF and ICE, and compared their levels in different data sets. The correlation matrix constructed based on the expression patterns of whole pepper genes in leaves and roots after exposure to cold stress showed the correlation between 14 ICE-CBF-COR signaling module genes, and provided insight into the relationship between these genes in pepper. These findings not only provide valuable resources for research on cold tolerance, but also lay the foundation for the genetic modification of cold stress regulators, which would help us achieve improved crop tolerance. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the relationship between positive and negative regulators related to the ICE-CBF-COR module, which is of great significance to the study of low-temperature adaptive mechanisms in plants.

植物抵御低温的机制极为复杂，目前学界对辣椒的低温抗性分子机制及其相关基因调控网络的认知仍较为匮乏。本研究在低温处理过程中，采用聚类分析（k-means）将所有表达基因划分为15个聚类；分别在叶片和根系中鉴定出3680个和2405个差异表达基因（differentially expressed genes, DEGs）。与部分关键基础代谢过程、氧化还原酶活性及整体膜组分相关的差异表达基因呈现出显著富集特征。此外，本研究基于拟南芥（Arabidopsis）基因的同源序列比对，在辣椒中鉴定出ICE-CBF-COR信号模块的14个正负调控因子（包含CBF与ICE），并比较了不同数据集内这些基因的表达水平。本研究基于辣椒全部基因在低温胁迫处理后叶片与根系中的表达模式构建了相关矩阵，明确了14个ICE-CBF-COR信号模块基因间的关联关系，并为解析这些基因在辣椒中的相互作用机制提供了新的视角。本研究结果不仅为植物耐寒性研究提供了宝贵的研究资源，同时也为低温胁迫调控因子的遗传改良奠定了理论基础，有助于实现作物抗逆性的提升。据我们所知，本研究是首个阐明ICE-CBF-COR模块相关正负调控因子间相互作用关系的研究，对于植物低温适应机制的探究具有重要的学术意义。