Metabolic and Proteomic Reveals of 7Li (Lithium-7) Ion Beam Radiation in Capsicum annuum L

Chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), a globally cultivated and ancient domesticated crop, carries considerable significance in agriculture. While radiation-induced mutagenesis has found application in this crop, the mutagenic efficacy and molecular-level impacts of 7Li ion beam radiation remain poorly elucidated.

We irradiated pepper with a beam of 7Li ions to create a mutant, which showed good economic traits, and phenotypic and physio-biochemical characterization were combined with proteomic and metabolomic profiling to delineate the mutagenic mechanisms. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was further utilized to assess the biological impact and underlying response pathways. We used this to evaluate the biological impact and the reaction mechanisms behind it.

7Li beam radiation positively influenced morphology and physiological traits, notably chlorophyll and anthocyanin content. Leveraging proteomic profiling detected 6082 proteins, including 355 differential proteins (139 upregulated, 216 downregulated), enriched in 4 KEGG pathways. Based on GO and KEGG network analysis, 250 metabolites were quantified, with 120 being differentially abundant (112 upregulated, 8 downregulated), enriched in 9 metabolic pathways. Furthermore, qRT-PCR results revealed that differentially expressed genes were consistent with the corresponding metabolomic data. Joint analysis revealed the coordinated enrichment of differential metabolites and proteins in pathways related to amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism. These findings suggest that these active pathways in pepper are related to its response to ion beam radiation. Overall, this study is a valuable resource for subsequent genomic research on peppers and 7Li ion beam radiation research.