Gene expression analysis of bud and leaf color in tea

• Published in: Plant physiology and biochemistry Vol. 107; pp. 310 - 318
• Main Authors: Wei, Kang, Zhang, Yazhen, Wu, Liyun, Li, Hailin, Ruan, Li, Bai, Peixian, Zhang, Chengcai, Zhang, Fen, Xu, Liyi, Wang, Liyuan, Cheng, Hao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: France Elsevier Masson SAS 01.10.2016
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Anthocyanins; Anthocyanins - chemistry; Anthocyanins - metabolism; Biosynthetic Pathways - genetics; Camellia sinensis; Camellia sinensis - genetics; Flowers - genetics; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; MYB transcriptional factor; Pigmentation - genetics; Plant Leaves - genetics; Plant Proteins - chemistry; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Purple soot tea; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA-Seq analysis; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Analysis, RNA; Tea - genetics; Transcription Factors - chemistry; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Up-Regulation - genetics; RNA-Seq analysis; KOG; AE; NR; DEG; GO; FPKM; MYB transcriptional factor; Purple soot tea; Camellia sinensis; FDR; Anthocyanins; KEGG; LSD
• ISSN: 0981-9428; 1873-2690
• DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2016.06.022

Purple shoot tea attributing to the high anthocyanin accumulation is of great interest for its wide health benefits. To better understand potential mechanisms involved in purple buds and leaves formation in tea plants, we performed transcriptome analysis of six green or purple shoot tea individuals from a F1 population using the Illumina sequencing method. Totally 292 million RNA-Seq reads were obtained and assembled into 112,233 unigenes, with an average length of 759 bp and an N50 of 1081 bp. Moreover, totally 2193 unigenes showed significant differences in expression levels between green and purple tea samples, with 1143 up- and 1050 down-regulated in the purple teas. Further real time PCR analysis confirmed RNA-Seq results. Our study identified 28 differentially expressed transcriptional factors and A CsMYB gene was found to be highly similar to AtPAP1 in Arabidopsis. Further analysis of differentially expressed genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis and transportation showed that the late biosynthetic genes and genes involved in anthocyanin transportation were largely affected but the early biosynthetic genes were less or none affected. Overall, the identification of a large number of differentially expressed genes offers a global view of the potential mechanisms associated with purple buds and leaves formation, which will facilitate molecular breeding in tea plants. •We performed RNA-Seq analysis of green and purple shoot teas in a F1 population.•We identified 2193 DEGs, including 1143 up- and 1050 down-regulated in purple tea.•MBW complex might play a critical role in controlling anthocyanin accumulation.•Purple tea was mainly associated with late biosynthetic and transportation genes.•The identified genes associated with bud and leaf color will facilitate tea breeding.