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Abstract

Sulfotransferases (SOTs) play a crucial role in regulating secondary metabolism and responding to abiotic stress in plants; however, systematic studies on SOTs in peppers (Capsicum annuum) remain limited. To investigate the compositional characteristics of the pepper SOT gene family and its response mechanisms to high- and low-temperature stresses, this study utilized whole-genome data from the “Zhangshugang” pepper variety to identify and analyze the structure of SOT gene family members. Additionally, transcriptomic data from the PepperHub database were integrated to examine their expression patterns across different tissues and under temperature stress conditions. The results indicated that 25 CaSOT family members were identified in the Capsicum genome, distributed across 6 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis classified the CaSOT genes into four subfamilies, with high consistency in gene structure and conserved motif composition among different subfamilies. The colinearity of CaSOT genes with potato was stronger than that of Arabidopsis, reflecting the evolutionary affinity among Solanaceae crops. Analysis of cis-acting elements in the promoter region revealed that the CaSOT gene promoter was rich in elements associated with light response, hormone response, and abiotic stress conditions such as high and low temperatures. Transcriptomic and qRT-PCR analyses revealed significant expression differences in CaSOT genes under temperature stresses conditions at different time points. Some CaSOT genes were associated with high- or low-temperature stress, e.g. CaSOT6, CaSOT7, CaSOT2, CaSOT12, CaSOT18, CaSOT22 and CaSOT14. This study provides important theoretical foundations and candidate gene resources for further elucidating the molecular mechanisms of temperature stress responses in pepper and for molecular breeding aimed at enhancing stress tolerance.

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