scholarly journals Genetic basis of high aroma and stress tolerance in the oolong tea cultivar genome

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengjie Wang ◽  
Jiaxin Yu ◽  
Shan Jin ◽  
Shuai Chen ◽  
Chuan Yue ◽  
...  

AbstractTea plants (Camellia sinensis) are commercially cultivated in >60 countries, and their fresh leaves are processed into tea, which is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. Although several chromosome-level tea plant genomes have been published, they collapsed the two haplotypes and ignored a large number of allelic variations that may underlie important biological functions in this species. Here, we present a phased chromosome-scale assembly for an elite oolong tea cultivar, “Huangdan”, that is well known for its high levels of aroma. Based on the two sets of haplotype genome data, we identified numerous genetic variations and a substantial proportion of allelic imbalance related to important traits, including aroma- and stress-related alleles. Comparative genomics revealed extensive structural variations as well as expansion of some gene families, such as terpene synthases (TPSs), that likely contribute to the high-aroma characteristics of the backbone parent, underlying the molecular basis for the biosynthesis of aroma-related chemicals in oolong tea. Our results uncovered the genetic basis of special features of this oolong tea cultivar, providing fundamental genomic resources to study evolution and domestication for the economically important tea crop.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen-Kai Jiang ◽  
Zhi-Long Liu ◽  
Xuan-Ye Li ◽  
Sezai Ercisli ◽  
Jian-Qiang Ma ◽  
...  

There are numerous non-volatile metabolites in the fresh shoots of tea plants. However, we know little about the complex relationship between the content of these metabolites and their gene expression levels. In investigating this, this study involved non-volatile metabolites from 68 accessions of tea plants that were detected and identified using untargeted metabolomics. The tea accessions were divided into three groups from the results of a principal component analysis based on the relative content of the metabolites. There were differences in variability between the primary and secondary metabolites. Furthermore, correlations among genes, gene metabolites, and metabolites were conducted based on Pearson's correlation coefficient (PCC) values. This study offered several significant insights into the co-current network of genes and metabolites in the global genetic background. Thus, the study is useful for providing insights into the regulatory relationship of the genetic basis for predominant metabolites in fresh tea shoots.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joonhyung Jung ◽  
Changkyun Kim ◽  
Joo-Hwan Kim

Abstract Background Commelinaceae (Commelinales) comprise 41 genera and are widely distributed in both the Old and New Worlds, except in Europe. The relationships among genera in this family have been suggested in several morphological and molecular studies. However, it is difficult to explain their relationships due to high morphological variations and low support values. Currently, many researchers have been using complete chloroplast genome data for inferring the evolution of land plants. In this study, we completed 15 new plastid genome sequences of subfamily Commelinoideae using the Mi-seq platform. We utilized genome data to reveal the structural variations and reconstruct the problematic positions of genera for the first time. Results All examined species of Commelinoideae have three pseudogenes (accD, rpoA, and ycf15), and the former two might be a synapomorphy within Commelinales. Only four species in tribe Commelineae presented IR expansion, which affected duplication of the rpl22 gene. We identified inversions that range from approximately 3 to 15 kb in four taxa (Amischotolype, Belosynapsis, Murdannia, and Streptolirion). The phylogenetic analysis using 77 chloroplast protein-coding genes with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference suggests that Palisota is most closely related to tribe Commelineae, supported by high support values. This result differs significantly from the current classification of Commelinaceae. Also, we resolved the unclear position of Streptoliriinae and the monophyly of Dichorisandrinae. Among the ten CDS (ndhH, rpoC2, ndhA, rps3, ndhG, ndhD, ccsA, ndhF, matK, and ycf1), which have high nucleotide diversity values (Pi > 0.045) and over 500 bp length, four CDS (ndhH, rpoC2, matK, and ycf1) show that they are congruent with the topology derived from 77 chloroplast protein-coding genes. Conclusions In this study, we provide detailed information on the 15 complete plastid genomes of Commelinoideae taxa. We identified characteristic pseudogenes and nucleotide diversity, which can be used to infer the family evolutionary history. Also, further research is needed to revise the position of Palisota in the current classification of Commelinaceae.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 3683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santosh KC ◽  
Meiya Liu ◽  
Qunfeng Zhang ◽  
Kai Fan ◽  
Yuanzhi Shi ◽  
...  

The qualities of tea (Camellia sinensis) are not clearly understood in terms of integrated leading molecular regulatory network mechanisms behind inorganic phosphate (Pi) limitation. Thus, the present work aims to elucidate transcription factor-dependent responses of quality-related metabolites and the expression of genes to phosphate (P) starvation. The tea plant organs were subjected to metabolomics analysis by GC×GC-TOF/MS and UPLC-Q-TOF/MS along with transcription factors and 13 metabolic genes by qRT-PCR. We found P starvation upregulated SPX2 and the change response of Pi is highly dependent on young shoots. This led to increased change in abundance of carbohydrates (fructose and glucose), amino acids in leaves (threonine and methionine), and root (phenylalanine, alanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine). Flavonoids and their glycosides accumulated in leaves and root exposed to P limitation was consistent with the upregulated expression of anthocyanidin reductase (EC 1.3.1.77), leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase (EC 1.4.11.19) and glycosyltransferases (UGT78D1, UGT78D2 and UGT57L12). Despite the similar kinetics and high correlation response of Pi and SPX2 in young shoots, predominating theanine and other amino acids (serine, threonine, glutamate, valine, methionine, phenylalanine) and catechin (EGC, EGCG and CG) content displayed opposite changes in response to Pi limitation between Fengqing and Longjing-43 tea cultivars.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 3938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi-Hui Sun ◽  
Chin-Ying Yang ◽  
Jason Tzen

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) contains abundant secondary metabolites, which are regulated by numerous enzymes. Hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT) is involved in the biosynthesis pathways of polyphenols and flavonoids, and it can catalyze the transfer of hydroxyconnamoyl coenzyme A to substrates such as quinate, flavanol glycoside, or anthocyanins, thus resulting in the production of chlorogenic acid or acylated flavonol glycoside. In this study, the CsHCT gene was cloned from the Chin-Shin Oolong tea plant, and its protein functions and characteristics were analyzed. The full-length cDNA of CsHCT contains 1311 base pairs and encodes 436 amino acid sequences. Amino acid sequence was highly conserved with other HCTs from Arabidopsis thaliana, Populus trichocarpa, Hibiscus cannabinus, and Coffea canephora. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that CsHCT is highly expressed in the stem tissues of both tea plants and seedlings. The CsHCT expression level was relatively high at high altitudes. The abiotic stress experiment suggested that low temperature, drought, and high salinity induced CsHCT transcription. Furthermore, the results of hormone treatments indicated that abscisic acid (ABA) induced a considerable increase in the CsHCT expression level. This may be attributed to CsHCT involvement in abiotic stress and ABA signaling pathways.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer H. Wisecaver ◽  
Alexander T. Borowsky ◽  
Vered Tzin ◽  
Georg Jander ◽  
Daniel J. Kliebenstein ◽  
...  

AbstractPlants produce a tremendous diversity of specialized metabolites (SMs) to interact with and manage their environment. A major challenge hindering efforts to tap this seemingly boundless source of pharmacopeia is the identification of SM pathways and their constituent genes. Given the well-established observation that the genes comprising a SM pathway are co-regulated in response to specific environmental conditions, we hypothesized that genes from a given SM pathway would form tight associations (modules) with each other in gene co-expression networks, facilitating their identification. To evaluate this hypothesis, we used 10 global co-expression datasets—each a meta-analysis of hundreds to thousands of expression experiments—across eight plant model organisms to identify hundreds of modules of co-expressed genes for each species. In support of our hypothesis, 15.3-52.6% of modules contained two or more known SM biosynthetic genes (e.g., cytochrome P450s, terpene synthases, and chalcone synthases), and module genes were enriched in SM functions (e.g., glucoside and flavonoid biosynthesis). Moreover, modules recovered many experimentally validated SM pathways in these plants, including all six known to form biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). In contrast, genes predicted based on physical proximity on a chromosome to form plant BGCs were no more co-expressed than the null distribution for neighboring genes. These results not only suggest that most predicted plant BGCs do not represent genuine SM pathways but also argue that BGCs are unlikely to be a hallmark of plant specialized metabolism. We submit that global gene co-expression is a rich, but largely untapped, data source for discovering the genetic basis and architecture of plant natural products, which can be applied even without knowledge of the genome sequence.


2021 ◽  
pp. 83-90
Author(s):  
Faris Nur Fauzi Athallah ◽  
Restu Wulansari ◽  
Eko Pranoto ◽  
Muhammad Alimin

Input factor is one of the determinator the quality and response of the tea plant growth. Inorganic fertilizer input still dominates in Indonesian plantations due to the lack of comprehensive evaluation of organic fertilizers, especially in liquid form. This study aims to determine the effect of inorganic and organic liquid fertilizer applications and the frequency of their application on the growth of tea plants. The experiment was carried out based on a Randomized Block Design (RBD) consisting of six treatment combinations, including tap water application once a week, tap water once every two weeks, 1% urea once a week, 1% urea every two weeks, 1% POC once a week and 1% POC once every two weeks. Experiments were carried out on yielding tea plants with the 3rd year of pruning stage. The parameters observed were shoot production (kg/plot), weight of banji and pekoe (g/100g) and the ratio of banji/pekoe. The results showed that the application of urea foliar fertilizer and liquid organic fertilizer with different application frequencies did not have a significant effect on each observed parameter. Application of 1% liquid organic fertilizer once every two weeks has the potential to increase tea productivity by showing a relatively high production of tea (6,88 kg/plot) compared to other treatments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yufeng Shi ◽  
Xiaolan Jiang ◽  
Linbo Chen ◽  
Wei-Wei Li ◽  
Sanyan Lai ◽  
...  

Flavonoids, including flavonol derivatives, are the main astringent compounds of tea and are beneficial to human health. Many researches have been conducted to comprehensively identify and characterize the phenolic compounds in the tea plant. However, the biological function of tea flavonoids is not yet understood, especially those accumulated in floral organs. In this study, the metabolic characteristics of phenolic compounds in different developmental stages of flower buds and various parts of the tea flower were investigated by using metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses. Targeted metabolomic analysis revealed varying accumulation patterns of different phenolic polyphenol compounds during flowering; moreover, the content of flavonol compounds gradually increased as the flowers opened. Petals and stamens were the main sites of flavone and flavonol accumulation. Compared with those of fertile flowers, the content of certain flavonols, such as kaempferol derivatives, in anthers of hybrid sterile flowers was significantly low. Transcriptomic analysis revealed different expression patterns of genes in the same gene family in tea flowers. The CsFLSb gene was significantly increased during flowering and was highly expressed in anthers. Compared with fertile flowers, CsFLSb was significantly downregulated in sterile flowers. Further functional verification of the three CsFLS genes indicated that CsFLSb caused an increase in flavonol content in transgenic tobacco flowers and that CsFLSa acted in leaves. Taken together, this study highlighted the metabolic properties of phenolic compounds in tea flowers and determined how the three CsFLS genes have different functions in the vegetative and reproductive organs of tea plants. Furthermore, CsFLSb could regulated flavonol biosynthesis in tea flowers, thus influencing fertility. This research is of great significance for balancing the reproductive growth and vegetative growth of tea plants.


HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 651-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liping Zhang ◽  
Chen Shen ◽  
Jipeng Wei ◽  
Wenyan Han

6-Benzyladenine (6-BA) is a safe and efficient cytokinin. The adult tea plants of the cv. Longjing 43 were used in this study. The foliar portion of tea bushes were sprayed with different concentrations (50, 100, 200, or 400 mg·L−1) of 6-BA after heavy pruning, when three to four leaves grew out in late May. The effects of 6-BA application on the growth of the new shoots and lateral branches were quantified. After 5 months, treatments with 50, 100, 200, or 400 mg·L−1 6-BA suppressed plant height by 11.0%, 18.0%, 21.0%, or 22.0%, respectively; 6-BA at 100, 200, or 400 mg·L−1 decreased the number of lateral branches by 20.0%, 23.0%, or 18.0%, respectively. Meanwhile, treatments with 50, 200, or 400 mg·L−1 6-BA increased the length of lateral branches by 38.0%, 79.0%, or 81.0% respectively; 200 mg·L−1 6-BA increased the diameter of lateral branches by 8.0%. In addition, after 2 months, 50 or 200 mg·L−1 6-BA did not significantly affect the growth of functional leaves, 50, 100, or 200 mg·L−1 6-BA did not significantly affect photosynthetic rate (Pn) as compared with the control. Furthermore, 200 or 400 mg·L−1 6-BA significantly increased spring tea yield by 28.9% or 13.3%, respectively as compared with the control. In conclusion, 6-BA at the four concentrations promoted dwarfing and the formation of productive lateral branches and increased the spring yield, and 200 mg·L−1 6-BA exerted the best comprehensive effect.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 655
Author(s):  
Jieyang Jin ◽  
Shangrui Zhang ◽  
Mingyue Zhao ◽  
Tingting Jing ◽  
Na Zhang ◽  
...  

Terpenoids play vital roles in tea aroma quality and plants defense performance determination, whereas the scenarios of genes to metabolites of terpenes pathway remain uninvestigated in tea plants. Here, we report the use of an integrated approach combining metabolites, target gene transcripts and function analyses to reveal a gene-to-terpene network in tea plants. Forty-one terpenes including 26 monoterpenes, 14 sesquiterpenes and one triterpene were detected and 82 terpenes related genes were identified from five tissues of tea plants. Pearson correlation analysis resulted in genes to metabolites network. One terpene synthases whose expression positively correlated with farnesene were selected and its function was confirmed involved in the biosynthesis of α-farnesene, β-ocimene and β-farnesene, a very important and conserved alarm pheromone in response to aphids by both in vitro enzymatic assay in planta function analysis. In summary, we provided the first reliable gene-to-terpene network for novel genes discovery.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1501000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Wei Deng ◽  
Min Li ◽  
Chen-Chen Gu ◽  
Da-Xiang Li ◽  
Lin-Long Ma ◽  
...  

Caffeine, a purine alkaloid, is a major secondary metabolite in tea leaves. The demand for low caffeine tea is increasing in recent years, especially for health reasons. We report a novel grafted tea material with low caffeine content. The grafted tea plant had Camellia sinensis as scions and C. oleifera as stocks. The content of purine alkaloids was determined in the leaves of one-year-old grafted tea plants by HPLC. We also characterized caffeine synthase (CS), a key enzyme involved in caffeine biosynthesis in tea plants, at the expression level. The expression patterns of CS were examined in grafted and control leaves by Western blot, using a self-prepared polyclonal antibody with high specificity and sensitivity. The expression of related genes ( TCS1, tea caffeine synthase gene, GenBank accession No. AB031280; sAMS, SAM synthetase gene, AJ277206; TIDH, IMP dehydrogenase gene, EU106658) in the caffeine biosynthetic pathway was investigated by qRT-PCR. HPLC showed that the caffeine content was only 38% as compared with the non-grafted tea leaves. Immunoblotting analysis showed that CS protein decreased by half in the leaves of grafted tea plants. qRT-PCR revealed no significant changes in the expression of two genes in the upstream pathway ( sAMS and TIDH), while the expression of TCS1 was greatly decreased (50%). Taken together, these data revealed that the low caffeine content in the grafted tea leaves is due to low TCS1 expression and CS protein accumulation.


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