Ten structural genes from the Capsicum (pepper) carotenoid biosynthetic pathway have been localized on a (Capsicum annuum ؋ Capsicum chinense)F 2 genetic map anchored in Lycopersicon (tomato). The positions of these genes were compared with positions of the same genes in tomato when known, and with loci from pepper, potato, and tomato that affect carotenoid levels in different tissues. C2, one of three phenotypically defined loci determining pepper fruit color, cosegregated with phytoene synthase. The capsanthin-capsorubin synthase (Ccs) locus, shown previously to cosegregate with Y, another pepper fruit color locus, mapped to pepper chromosome 6. Other structural genes in pepper corresponded to loci affecting carotenoid production as follows: Ccs in pepper and the B locus for hyperaccumulation of ␤-carotene in tomato fruit mapped to homeologous regions; the position of the lycopene ␤-cyclase gene in pepper may correspond to the lutescent-2 mutation in tomato; and the lycopene -cyclase locus in pepper corresponded to the lycopene -cyclase locus͞Del mutation for hyperaccumulation of ␦-carotene in tomato fruit. Additional associations were seen between the structural genes and previously mapped loci controlling quantitative variation in pepper and tomato fruit color. These results demonstrate that comparative analyses using candidate genes may be used to link specific metabolic phenotypes and loci that affect these phenotypes in related species.

Quantitative variation in the accumulation of two major capsaicinoids responsible for pungency in the fruit of chile peppers, capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, was analyzed in a cross between the non-pungent Capsicum annuum parent cv. Maor and a pungent Capsicum frutescens parent, accession BG 2816. In order to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for capsaicinoid content, we employed the bulked segregant analysis method and screened bulked DNA from F2 individuals at the extremes of the distribution of capsaicinoid content with RAPD primers. Screening with 400 primers allowed the identification of three loci that were polymorphic between the bulks. These RAPD markers were converted to SCARs and subsequently mapped with additional RFLP markers to chromosome 7 of pepper. QTL interval analysis for individual and total capsaicinoid content identified a major QTL, termed cap, which explained 34-38% of the phenotypic variation for this trait in two growing environments. For all measurements, the allele of the pungent parent BG 2816 at cap contributed to the increased level of pungency. To determine whether known structural genes in the pathway could define a candidate for this QTL, 12 clones obtained from differentially expressed transcripts from placental tissue in pungent peppers were also mapped. None of them had a significant effect on this trait, nor did the allelic state at the locus C, the on/off switch for pungency in pepper, located on chromosome 2. The identity of cap and its effect on capsaicin content in other backgrounds will be addressed in future studies.