Abstract Recent advances in genomics and metabolomics have made the study of specialized metabolism far more tractable than it was previously. Here we evaluate specialized metabolite pathways of Capsicum spp. (peppers), focusing mainly on carotenoids, flavonoids, and capsaicinoids as examples of classes of secondary metabolites. To place these data in the context of the evolution of metabolic pathways, we compare the extent of genomic and chemical diversity in several species of the nightshades (Solanaceae), the family to which pepper belongs. We further discuss the genetic mechanisms known to underly metabolic diversity prior to carrying out a detailed genomic study of the enzymes active in the pathways influencing fruit color and pungency. Using large-scale comparative analyses across 25 sequenced plant genomes, we identify orthologs of structural metabolic genes and discuss the data in terms of variation of gene family size and its impact on the diversity of secondary metabolites. Abbreviations BCAA: branched-chain amino acid; K-Pg: Cretaceous-Paleogene; ROS: reactive oxygen species; TE: transposable element; WGD: whole genome duplication

中文翻译：

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The Hot and the colour: 了解胡椒和相关物种中消费者偏好的代谢性状的代谢、遗传学和进化

摘要 基因组学和代谢组学的最新进展使专门代谢的研究比以前更容易处理。在这里，我们评估了辣椒属的专门代谢物途径。（辣椒），主要关注类胡萝卜素、黄酮类化合物和辣椒素类作为次级代谢物类别的例子。为了将这些数据放在代谢途径进化的背景下，我们比较了辣椒所属科茄属植物（茄科）的几个物种的基因组和化学多样性的程度。在对影响果实颜色和辣味的途径中活跃的酶进行详细的基因组研究之前，我们进一步讨论了已知的潜在代谢多样性的遗传机制。对 25 个已测序的植物基因组进行大规模比较分析，我们确定了结构代谢基因的直向同源物，并根据基因家族大小的变化及其对次生代谢物多样性的影响来讨论数据。缩写 BCAA：支链氨基酸；K-Pg：白垩纪-古近纪；ROS：活性氧；TE：转座元件；WGD：全基因组复制