Fig. 4

Cosilencing of capsaicin synthase (CS) and An2. a Anthocyanin-mediated visualization of cosilencing of CS and An2 in pepper pericarp and placenta (30 DPA). Silencing of An2 resulted in the depletion of anthocyanin pigmentation in the exocarp and placenta of TRV2::GFP::An2 and TRV2::CS::An2. b Gene expression analysis of CS in the cosilenced fruits (placenta) compared to the control and An2-silenced fruits by qRT-PCR. The expression levels of CS were significantly lower in TRV2::CS::An2 than in the control and TRV2::GFP::An2. c Capsaicinoid analysis in the cosilenced fruits compared to control and An2-silenced fruits by HPLC (n = 6). Cosilencing of An2 and CS in the placenta resulted in decreased levels of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin. Asterisks indicate significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) between TRV2::GFP::An2 and TRV2::CS::An2. Data are shown as mean ± SE. The different letters indicate significant difference (P ≤ 0.05) by Duncan test