Global transcriptome and gene regulation network for secondary metabolite biosynthesis of tea plant (Camellia sinensis)

BMC Genomics

Ya-Jun Yang⁴  Liang Chen⁴  Xuan Li⁵  Da Luo²  Ming-Zhe Yao⁴  Xin-Chao Wang⁴  Sheng-Jun Wang¹  Qiong-Yi Zhao³  Yao Yu⁵  Yan Zhu⁵  Chun-Fang Li⁴ 

[1]Suzhou Genezym Biological Technology Co, Ltd, Suzhou 215011, China

[2]School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China

[3]Present address: The University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute, Brisbane St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia

[4]Key Laboratory of Tea Biology and Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310008, China

[5]Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China

关键词: Regulation network;    Transcription factor;    Secondary metabolite;    RNA-seq;    Camellia sinensis;    Tea plant;   

Others  :  1221835
DOI  :  10.1186/s12864-015-1773-0

 received in 2014-12-08, accepted in 2015-07-14,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

Major secondary metabolites, including flavonoids, caffeine, and theanine, are important components of tea products and are closely related to the taste, flavor, and health benefits of tea. Secondary metabolite biosynthesis in Camellia sinensis is differentially regulated in different tissues during growth and development. Until now, little was known about the expression patterns of genes involved in secondary metabolic pathways or their regulatory mechanisms. This study aimed to generate expression profiles for C. sinensis tissues and to build a gene regulation model of the secondary metabolic pathways.

Results

RNA sequencing was performed on 13 different tissue samples from various organs and developmental stages of tea plants, including buds and leaves of different ages, stems, flowers, seeds, and roots. A total of 43.7 Gbp of raw sequencing data were generated, from which 347,827 unigenes were assembled and annotated. There were 46,693, 8446, 3814, 10,206, and 4948 unigenes specifically expressed in the buds and leaves, stems, flowers, seeds, and roots, respectively. In total, 1719 unigenes were identified as being involved in the secondary metabolic pathways in C. sinensis, and the expression patterns of the genes involved in flavonoid, caffeine, and theanine biosynthesis were characterized, revealing the dynamic nature of their regulation during plant growth and development. The possible transcription factor regulation network for the biosynthesis of flavonoid, caffeine, and theanine was built, encompassing 339 transcription factors from 35 families, namely bHLH, MYB, and NAC, among others. Remarkably, not only did the data reveal the possible critical check points in the flavonoid, caffeine, and theanine biosynthesis pathways, but also implicated the key transcription factors and related mechanisms in the regulation of secondary metabolite biosynthesis.

Conclusions

Our study generated gene expression profiles for different tissues at different developmental stages in tea plants. The gene network responsible for the regulation of the secondary metabolic pathways was analyzed. Our work elucidated the possible cross talk in gene regulation between the secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways in C. sinensis. The results increase our understanding of how secondary metabolic pathways are regulated during plant development and growth cycles, and help pave the way for genetic selection and engineering for germplasm improvement.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Li et al.

【 图 表 】

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