Chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is extensively cultivated in China, with its production highly reliant on regional environmental conditions. Given ongoing climate change, it is imperative to assess its impact on chili pepper cultivation and identify suitable habitats for future cultivation. In this study, the MaxEnt model was optimized and utilized to predict suitable habitats for open-field chili pepper cultivation, and changes in these habitats were analyzed using ArcGIS v10.8. Our results showed that the parameter settings of the optimal model were FC = LQPTH and RM = 2.7, and the critical environmental variables influencing chili pepper distribution were annual mean temperature, isothermality, maximum temperature of the warmest month, and precipitation of the warmest quarter. Under current climate conditions, suitable habitats were distributed across all provinces in China, with moderately- and highly-suitable habitats concentrated in the east of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau and south of the Inner Mongolia Plateau. Under future climate scenarios, the area of suitable habitats was expected to be larger than the current ones, except for SSP126-2050s, and reached the maximum under SSP126-2090s. The overlapping suitable habitats were concentrated in the east of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau and south of the Inner Mongolia Plateau under various climate scenarios. In the 2050s, the centroids of suitable habitats were predicted to shift towards the southwest, except for SSP126, whereas this trend was reversed in the 2090s. Our results suggest that climate warming is conductive to the cultivation of chili pepper, and provide scientific guidance for the introduction and cultivation of chili pepper in the face of climate warming.

Turnip (Brassica rapa ssp. rapa) is considered to be a highly nutritious and health-promoting vegetable crop, whose flesh color can be divided into yellow and white. It is widely accepted that yellow-fleshed turnips have higher nutritional value. However, reports about flesh color formation is lacking. Here, the white-fleshed inbred line, W21, and yellow-fleshed inbred line, W25, were profiled from the swollen root of the turnip at three developmental periods to elucidate the yellow color formation. Transcriptomics integrated with metabolomics analysis showed that the PSY gene was the key gene affecting the carotenoids formation in W25. The coding sequence of BrrPSY-W25 was 1278 bp and that of BrrPSY-W21 was 1275 bp, and BrrPSY was more highly expressed in swollen roots in W25 than in W21. Transient transgenic tobacco leaf over-expressing BrrPSY-W and BrrPSY-Y showed higher transcript levels and carotenoids contents. Results revealed that yellow turnip formation is due to high expression of the PSY gene rather than mutations in the PSY gene, indicating that a post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism may affect carotenoids formation. Results obtained in this study will be helpful for explaining the carotenoids accumulation of turnips.

Our multi-omics investigation of pepper fruit coloration dynamics demonstrates that the coordinated regulation of flavonoid accumulation and chlorophyll retention underpins the distinct pigmentation patterns between dark green (XHB) and light green (QL2017) cultivars. Through the integrated analysis of three developmental stages (10–30 DPA), we identified 989 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) and 810 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with flavonoid biosynthesis, phenylpropanoid metabolism, and chlorophyll turnover pathways pinpointed as central regulatory hubs. Notably, key metabolites such as quercitrin, kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside, and cinnamic acid were significantly enriched in dark green fruits (XHB), coinciding with enhanced antioxidant activity and delayed chlorophyll degradation. Transcriptomic data revealed the coordinated upregulation of chlorophyll biosynthesis genes (COX15, POR) and light-harvesting complex components (Lhcb1, Lhcb2), while PAO—a pivotal chlorophyll catabolism gene—also exhibited elevated expression. Co-expression network analysis highlighted scopoletin GTase, F5H, CCR, and CAD as hub genes regulating flavonoid biosynthesis. qRT-PCR validation confirmed high consistency with transcriptomic trends (r > 0.85, p < 0.01). Our findings propose a synergistic model wherein flavonoid accumulation and chlorophyll metabolic dynamics jointly orchestrate green fruit pigmentation, offering novel insights and molecular targets for the precision breeding of pepper fruit coloration.

Low temperature is a significant abiotic stress factor that not only impacts plant growth, development, yield, and quality but also constrains the geographical distribution of numerous wild plants. Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea L. var. caulorapa L.) belongs to the Brassicaceae family and has a short growing period. In this study, a total of 196,642 unigenes were obtained from kohlrabi seedlings at low temperatures; of these, 52,836 unigenes were identified as differentially expressed genes. Transcription factor family members ARR-B, C3H, B3-ARF, etc. that had a high correlation with biochemical indicators related to low temperature were identified. A total of nineteen BocARR-B genes (named BocARR-B1–BocARR-B19) were obtained, and these genes were distributed unevenly across seven chromosomes. Nineteen BocARR-B genes searched four conserved motifs and were divided into three groups. The relative expression level analysis of 19 BocARR-B genes of kohlrabi showed obvious specificity in different tissues. This study lays a foundation and provides new insight to explain the low-temperature resistance mechanism and response pathways of kohlrabi. It also provides a theoretical basis for the functional analysis of 19 BocARR-B transcription factor gene family members.

Indolic glucosinolates are a group of plant secondary metabolites found in Brassica vegetables, and their breakdown products could act as important anti-cancer and defense compounds against biotic stresses. Transcriptional regulation plays a key role in modulating the biosynthesis of indolic glucosinolates in the model plant Arabidopsis, but little is known about the transcriptional regulatory landscape of these glucosinolates in Brassica vegetables. In this study, we selected and functionally validated the important biosynthetic gene BolCYP83B1 from the indolic glucosinolate pathway in cabbage. Through a yeast one-hybrid assay, we systemically screened and identified upstream regulators of BolCYP83B1 in cabbage with BolANTs as the top candidates for further functional validation. Two homologs of BolANTs, BolANT1 and BolANT3, were confirmed to bind the promoter of BolCYP83B1 via both a yeast one-hybrid assay and an LUC assay. The overexpression of BolANT3 in cabbage significantly increased the accumulation of indolic glucosinolates, while the virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) of BolANT3 significantly reduced the accumulation of indolic glucosinolates in cabbage. Our work provides valuable insights into the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms of indolic glucosinolates in Brassica vegetables.

Aliphatic glucosinolates are a large group of plant-specialized metabolites in Brassica vegetables, and some of their degradation products are key nutrients with significant beneficial effects on human health. Increasing the nutritional quality is one of the central research questions and breeding goals for Brassica vegetables. Major progress has been made in understanding transcriptional regulation of aliphatic glucosinolates biosynthesis in the model plant, while little is known about it in Brassica vegetables. In this study, we used cabbage to study the transcriptional regulation of BolBCAT4 genes, the first set of biosynthetic genes in methionine-derived aliphatic glucosinolate metabolism, and identified and functionally validated four upstream positive regulators of BolBCAT4 genes, BolMYB3R, BolbHLH153, BolMED4 and BolERF74, with consistent phenotypic effects of inducing short-chain aliphatic glucosinolates, including glucoraphanin. Our work confirmed the biological functions of BolBCAT4 genes, identified dozens of candidate upstream regulators, and provided valuable regulatory mechanisms and breeding targets for enhancing the nutritional quality of cabbage.