Transcriptomic and ionomic analysis provides new insight into the beneficial effect of Al on tea roots’ growth and nutrient uptake

• Published in: Plant cell reports Vol. 38; no. 6; pp. 715 - 729
• Main Authors: Fan, Kai, Wang, Min, Gao, Yaoyao, Ning, Qiuyan, Shi, Yuanzhi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accumulation; Accumulators; Actin; Adenosine triphosphatase; Aluminum; Aluminum - pharmacology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Calcium; Camellia sinensis - drug effects; Camellia sinensis - genetics; Cell Biology; Cell walls; Cytoskeleton; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - drug effects; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - genetics; H+-transporting ATPase; Hydrogen; Life Sciences; Magnesium; Molecular modelling; Nutrient uptake; Original Article; Plant Biochemistry; Plant growth; Plant Roots - drug effects; Plant Roots - metabolism; Plant Sciences; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; Roots; Tea; Toxicity; Transcription; Transcriptome - drug effects; Transcriptome - genetics; Al; Nutrient uptake; Root growth; Transcriptome; Camellia sinensis
• ISSN: 0721-7714; 1432-203X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00299-019-02401-5

Key message Transcriptome profiling of roots indicated that genes involved in cell wall modification, cytoskeleton, H + exchange and K + influx played important roles in tea root growth under Al addition. Tea ( Camellia sinensis ) is considered as an Al accumulator species. It can accumulate a high concentration of Al in mature leaves without any symptom of toxicity, even improve roots’ growth and nutrient uptake. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this tolerance remain unclear. Here, we investigated the accumulation of elements and transcriptional profiles in tea roots treated with various Al doses. The results showed that the growth of tea plants was improved by a low dose of Al (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 1 mM); however, this beneficial effect disappeared when higher concentrations of Al were supplied (2, 4, 10 mM). Ionomic analysis suggested that accumulation of P and K increased under a low Al supply (< 1 mM), while Ca and Mg contents were negatively correlated with external Al doses. The RNA seq obtained 523,391 unigenes, among which 20,448 were annotated in all databases. In total, 1876 unigenes were expressed significantly different in any Al treatment. A large number of DEGs involved in cell growth and division, such as those linked to cell wall-modifying enzymes, actin cytoskeleton, cyclin and H + -ATPase were identified, suggesting that these pathways were involved in root growth under different Al supply. Furthermore, expression of transporters significantly changed in roots supplied with Al. Among them, HAK5 , which is involved in K uptake by plants, had a significant positive correlation with the K content.