Plant–pathogen interactions are key biological events that shape ecological dynamics, food production, agriculture and economy. In this context, Capsicum frutescens is an economically and culturally significant chili pepper plant grown widely across the globe as an essential ingredient of hot sauces, chili concentrates, oleoresin flavors, and also in traditional medicines. An important pathogen that limits chili cultivation causing low yield and economic loss is the broad mite, Polyphagotarsonemus latus. Broad mite-infested chili plants have stunted growth and leaves appear coppery and dark, which show symptoms of leaf curl and more importantly the smaller fruits unfit for consumption. The molecular mechanisms of how broad mite affect chili remain poorly understood. In this study, we report a tandem mass tag (TMT)-labeled mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomic analysis of leaves and apical meristems of healthy and infected chili pepper plants. In total, we identified 5799 proteins, of which 1677 proteins were found to be differentially regulated in infested plants. Related signaling pathways of the differentially expressed proteins were examined using bioinformatics tools. Predominantly, we identified pathways associated with jasmonic acid synthesis, mitogen-activated protein kinase, and plant defense and hormone signal transduction. We also observed upregulation of several enzymes of the phenylpropanoid and carotenoid biosynthetic pathways. This study provides the first in-depth proteomic analysis that correlates broad mite infestation in chili and dysregulation of various pathways that take part in plant defense. In the future, data can be extrapolated for innovation in pest management methods whose ecological footprints are better understood.

中文翻译：

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植物-病原体相互作用：广螨（Polyphagotarsonemus latus）-诱导辣椒植物（Capsicum frutescens）的蛋白质组学变化。

植物-病原体相互作用是影响生态动态、粮食生产、农业和经济的关键生物事件。在此背景下，Capsicum frutescens是一种在经济和文化上具有重要意义的辣椒植物，在全球范围内广泛种植，是辣酱、辣椒浓缩物、油树脂香料以及传统药物的重要成分。限制辣椒种植造成低产和经济损失的重要病原体是阔螨，Polyphagotarsonemus latus. 广泛受螨虫侵扰的辣椒植物生长发育迟缓，叶子呈铜色和黑色，显示出叶片卷曲的症状，更重要的是较小的果实不适合食用。广泛螨如何影响辣椒的分子机制仍然知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们报告了基于串联质量标签 (TMT) 标记的质谱法对健康和受感染辣椒植物的叶子和顶端分生组织进行的定量蛋白质组学分析。我们总共鉴定了 5799 种蛋白质，其中发现 1677 种蛋白质在受侵染植物中受到差异调节。使用生物信息学工具检查了差异表达蛋白质的相关信号通路。主要是，我们确定了与茉莉酸合成、丝裂原活化蛋白激酶以及植物防御和激素信号转导相关的途径。我们还观察到苯丙烷和类胡萝卜素生物合成途径的几种酶的上调。这项研究提供了第一个深入的蛋白质组学分析，该分析将辣椒中的广泛螨虫侵扰与参与植物防御的各种途径的失调相关联。未来，数据可以用于虫害管理方法的创新，从而更好地了解生态足迹。