Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 May-Jun;175(3):e13933.
doi: 10.1111/ppl.13933.

Metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal the biosynthetic mechanisms of pigments and main taste compounds in an albino tea cultivar

Sheng-Chuan Liu  1 , Ying-Fen Xu  1 , Ya-Bing Liu  2 , Xiong Zhao  1 , Jie Wei  2 , Kai-Qin Lin  2 , Yan Liu  1 , Dong-Hai Yan  2
Affiliations

Metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal the biosynthetic mechanisms of pigments and main taste compounds in an albino tea cultivar

Sheng-Chuan Liu et al. Physiol Plant. 2023 May-Jun.

Abstract

Significant variations in leaf colours, pigment contents, and main taste compounds in young shoots from albino tea plants (Camellia sinensis) influence tea flavour. However, the seasonal metabolic pattern and molecular regulatory mechanism of these metabolites remain largely elusive. Herein, we conducted morphological, biochemical, metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses between an albino tea cultivar 'Zhonghuang 3' ('ZH3') and a green strain 'Tai cha 15' ('TC15') at four-time points (April 12, May 31, July 14, and August 17) to elucidate dynamic changes in these compounds and predict the relationships among transcription factors (TFs), target genes (TGs), and metabolite abundance. Generally, leaf colours and pigment contents were significantly lighter and lower, respectively, in 'ZH3' than in 'TC15' from spring to summer, but were subsequently similar. Compared to 'TC15', 'ZH3' had a lower and broader phenol/ammonia ratio as well as stable caffeine content and showed more significantly different metabolites and differentially expressed genes. The relationship between pigments, main taste compounds, and their biosynthetic genes, as well as TFs and their TGs, had genetic specificity. These results suggested that the biosynthesis of these compounds was probably both season- and variety-dependent. In total, 12 models of the TF-TG-metabolite regulatory network were proposed to uncover the biosynthetic and regulatory mechanisms of these metabolites in tea plants. A high correlation was observed between some structural genes and TFs with the accumulation of these metabolites. These findings provide novel insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying accumulation of pigments and main taste compounds in tea plants.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Ashihara, H., Mizuno, K., Yokota, T. & Crozier, A. (2017) Xanthine alkaloids: occurrence, biosynthesis, and function in plants. Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products, 105, 1-88.
    1. Chen, D., Sun, Z., Gao, J.J., Peng, J.K., Wang, Z., Zhao, Y.N. et al. (2022) Metabolomics combined with proteomics provides a novel interpretation of the compound differences among Chinese tea cultivars (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis) with different manufacturing suitabilities. Food Chemitry, 377, 131976.
    1. Chen, Z., Wang, Z., Yuan, H.Y. & He, N. (2021) From tea leaves to factories: a review of research progress in l-theanine biosynthesis and production. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 69(4), 1187-1196.
    1. Chong, J., Wishart, D.S. & Xia, J.G. (2019) Using MetaboAnalyst 4.0 for comprehensive and integrative metabolomics data analysis. Current Protocols in Bioinformatics, 68(1), e86.
    1. Dam, R.M., Hu, F.B. & Willett, W.C. (2020) Coffee, caffeine, and health. The New England Journal of Medicine, 383(4), 369-378.

LinkOut - more resources