Figure.1 The effect of CaNAC2c silencing in pepper plants on thermotolerance. A. Schematic diagram of the fragments used for VIGS vectors construction, a specific fragment within the CDS (TRV:CaNAC2c-CDS ) and a fragment within 3’UTR(TRV:CaNAC2c-3’UTR ) were used for vectors construction. B. The success of CaNAC2c silencing by VIGS by measuring the transcript level of CaNAC2c in HTS challenged TRV:CaNAC2c-CDS and TRV:CaNAC2c-3’UTR pepper plants at 3 and 24 hpt.C.CaNAC2csilenced pepper plants displayed significantly decreased basal(BT) and acquired (AT) thermotolerance(pretreated with 37℃ for 12 h and recovered for 12 h).D. Dynamic plant mortality under HTS from 1 to 42 hpt. E-G. The transcript level of thermotolerance related marker genes inCaNAC2c silenced pepper plants challenged with HTS at 3 and 24 hpt. H. ion leakage displayed by conductivity in CaNAC2c silenced pepper plants pretreated with nonlethal high temperature (37 ℃ for 12 h, and recovered for 12 h). I. ion leakage displayed by conductivity in CaNAC2c silenced pepper plants without pretreatment with nonlethal high temperature stress. J. H2O2 accumulation displayed by DAB staining of different organs in CaNAC2c silenced pepper plants challenged with HTS. K. ROS accumulation displayed by NBT staining of leaves in CaNAC2c silenced pepper plants challenged with HTS. L. Fv/Fm and △F/Fm’ in leaves of CaNAC2c silenced pepper plants challenged with HTS. M. Fv/Fm and △F/Fm’ in leaves of CaNAC2c silenced pepper plants challenged with HTS by dipping half of the leaf to water of 42℃. Data presented are means ± standard error (SE) of four replicates. In B, E, F, G, L and M, different uppercase letters above the bars indicated significant differences among means (P < 0.01), as calculated with Fisher’s protected LSD test.