Gene Expression of Flavanone 3-Hydroxylase (F3H), Anthocyanidin Synthase (ANS), and p-Coumaroyl Ester 3-Hydroxylase (C3H) in Tzimbalo Fruit

The current investigation emphasizes the expression of candidate genes for future fruit quality improvement. This study aims to describe morphological variation on Sola num caripense Dunal (tzimbalo) ecotypes; identify gene expression of F3H and ANS and analyze gene expression of C3H. This study employed Ecuadorian (BIO) and Peruvian (IBT) as samples of the study. Morphological descriptors for Solanum muricatum Aiton were used in this study. RNA was isolated for identification of F3H and ANS transcripts in BIO-Ltg1 and BIO-Cyb1 through reverse transcription followed by semiquantitative PCR (RT-PCR). C3H relative expression was analyzed in IBT-Lib1 for zero, five and fourteen days under the influence of controlled conditions (10 ± 2 °C; 16 h day/8 h night) through reverse transcription followed by quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The cophenetic correlation (0.88) of conglomerate analysis (CA) pointed out good similarity for Ecuadorian ecotypes and two subgroups for Peruvian ecotypes. The first three principal components (PC) explained qualitatively 71.39% and quantitatively 81.34% of total variation; Fr-Flavour, Se-Diameter, Fl-CorollaColour, Frstripes, Fr-Length, Fr-PlacentLength, and Fr-PlacentBreadth were characters that contributed more to the variability. The expression of F3H was identified in BIO-Ltg1. The expression of ANS was similar (BIO-Ltg1→48.20 ng·μL^-1; BIO-Cyb1→36.19 ng·μL^-1). The mean fold change value in C3H expression was 3.32, 4.52, and 6.24 for zero, five, and fourteen days; C3H transcripts level was significantly different and increased 2.92 units after fourteen days. These results demonstrate the expression of F3H and ANS in BIOLtg1 and BIO-Cyb1, differential expression of C3H in IBT-Lib1, and focus the nutritional value of tzimbalo fruit.