| dc.description.abstract | Chili is one of the most cultivated vegetables globally
with a wide market potential due to the development in
the food and pharmacy industries. A chili cultivation
method must comply with good agricultural practices
to reduce toxicity from chemical substances. Chitosan
is a promising organic alternative to chemical fertilizer
and pesticides because its elicitation activity is known
to improve growth and resistance in plants. This
research documented an improvement in growth
parameters in chitosan-treated chili plants such as
height increase, number of leaves and chlorophyll
content. The regulation of gene expression was also
investigated in CM334, C15080, LABA F1 and LADO
F1 cultivars treated with chitosan. Seven regulated
genes FC >|2| in CM334 and C15080 are involved in
protein folding, sugar and protein metabolisms.
These genes were also regulated in LABA F1 and
LADO F1 but in different patterns as shown by their
relative expression level to a ubiquitin encoding gene.
Thus, this study suggests that chitosan improves the
growth of chili plants, but the molecular response is
distinctive in each cultivar. However, the mode of
chitosan-regulated gene expression in all cultivars
indicates a correlation to the condition of stress and
changes in metabolisms. | en_US |
