Metabolic improvements of novel microbial fermentation on black tea by Eurotium cristatum.

Due to its traditional fermentation, there are obvious limits on the quality improvements in black tea. However, microbial fermentation can provide an abundance of metabolites and improve the flavor of tea. The "golden flower" fungi are widely used in the microbial fermentation of tea and has unique uses in healthcare. To further explore the improvements in black tea quality achieved via microbial fermentation, we used widely targeted metabolomics and metagenomics analyses to investigate the changes in and effects of metabolites and other microorganisms during the interaction between the "golden flower" fungi and black tea. Five key flavor metabolites were detected, the levels of catechin, epigallocatechin gallate, (-)-epicatechin gallate were decreased by different degrees after the inoculation of the "golden flower" fungus, whereas the levels of caffeine and (+)-gallocatechin increased. Botryosphaeriaceae, Botryosphaeriales, Dothideomycetes, Aspergillaceae, Trichocomaceae, and Lecanoromycetes play a positive role in the black tea fermentation process after inoculation with the "golden flower" fungi. D-Ribose can prevent hypoxia-induced apoptosis in cardiac cells, and it shows a strong correlation with Botryosphaeriaceae and Botryosphaeriales. The interaction between microorganisms and metabolites is manifested in tryptophan metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, and amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism. In conclusion, the changes in metabolites observed during the fermentation of black tea by "golden flower" fungi are beneficial to human health. This conclusion extends the knowledge of the interaction between the "golden flower" fungi and black tea, and it provides important information for improving the quality of black tea.

Molecular and physiological mechanisms of tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) leaf and root in response to nitrogen deficiency.

BACKGROUND: As an economically important crop, tea is strongly nitrogen (N)-dependent. However, the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying the response of N deficiency in tea are not fully understood. Tea cultivar "Chunlv2" [Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze] were cultured with a nutrient solution with 0 mM [N-deficiency] or 3 mM (Control) NH4NO3 in 6 L pottery pots containing clean river sands. RESULTS: N deficiency significantly decreased N content, dry weight, chlorophyll (Chl) content, L-theanine and the activities of N metabolism-related enzymes, but increased the content of total flavonoids and polyphenols in tea leaves. N deficiency delayed the sprouting time of tea buds. By using the RNA-seq technique and subsequent bioinformatics analysis, 3050 up-regulated and 2688 down-regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were isolated in tea leaves in response to N deficiency. However, only 1025 genes were up-regulated and 744 down-regulated in roots. Gene ontology (GO) term enrichment analysis showed that 205 DEGs in tea leaves were enriched in seven GO terms and 152 DEGs in tea roots were enriched in 11 GO items based on P < 0.05. In tea leaves, most GO-enriched DEGs were involved in chlorophyll a/b binding activities, photosynthetic performance, and transport activities. But most of the DEGs in tea roots were involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates and plant hormones with regard to the GO terms of biological processes. N deficiency significantly increased the expression level of phosphate transporter genes, which indicated that N deficiency might impair phosphorus metabolism in tea leaves. Furthermore, some DEGs, such as probable anion transporter 3 and high-affinity nitrate transporter 2.7, might be of great potential in improving the tolerance of N deficiency in tea plants and further study could work on this area in the future. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated N deficiency inhibited the growth of tea plant, which might be due to altered N metabolism and expression levels of DEGs involved in the photosynthetic performance, transport activity and oxidation-reduction processes.

The GC-TOF/MS-based Metabolomic analysis reveals altered metabolic profiles in nitrogen-deficient leaves and roots of tea plants (Camellia sinensis).

BACKGROUND: Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is commonly considered as one of the most important limiting factors in the agricultural production. As a result, a large amount of N fertilizer is used to improve the yield in modern tea production. Unfortunately, the large amount of N fertilizer input has led to increased plant nitrogen-tolerance and decreased amplitude of yield improvement, which results in significant N loss, energy waste and environment pollution. However, the effects of N-deficiency on the metabolic profiles of tea leaves and roots are not well understood. RESULTS: In this study, seedlings of Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze Chunlv 2 were treated with 3 mM NH4NO3 (Control) or without NH4NO3 (N-deficiency) for 4 months by sandy culture. The results suggested that N-deficiency induced tea leaf chlorosis, impaired biomass accumulation, decreased the leaf chlorophyll content and N absorption when they were compared to the Control samples. The untargeted metabolomics based on GC-TOF/MS approach revealed a discrimination of the metabolic profiles between N-deficient tea leaves and roots. The identification and classification of the altered metabolites indicated that N deficiency upregulated the relative abundances of most phenylpropanoids and organic acids, while downregulated the relative abundances of most amino acids in tea leaves. Differentially, N-deficiency induced the accumulation of most carbohydrates, organic acids and amino acids in tea roots. The potential biomarkers screened in N-deficient leaves compared to Control implied that N deficiency might reduce the tea quality. Unlike the N-deficient leaves, the potential biomarkers in N-deficient roots indicated an improved stress response might occur in tea roots. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrated N deficiency had different effects on the primary and secondary metabolism in tea leaves and roots. The findings of this study will facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the N-deficient tea plants and provide a valuable reference for the optimized N nutrient management and the sustainable development in the tea plantations.

Improving Stability of Cesium Lead Iodide Perovskite Nanocrystals by Solution Surface Treatments.

Cesium lead halide perovskite nanocrystals have a narrow emission peak tunable in the visible wavelength range with a high quantum yield. They hold great potential for optoelectronic applications such as light-emitting diodes or electronic displays. However, cesium lead iodide (CsPbI3) is not stable under ambient conditions, limiting its applications. Here, we use a solution surface treatment approach to improve the photostability of CsPbI3 suspensions in toluene. When a CsPbBr3 precursor is used via the method of heterogeneous surface treatment, the photoluminescence (PL) intensity is enhanced but the PL only lasts 2 days. In contrast, when a CsPbI3 precursor is used via the method of homogeneous surface treatment, not only the PL intensity of CsPbI3 suspensions is enhanced but also the stability with the PL lasts for 11 days. It is likely that a better protection on the core CsPbI3 by itself can be achieved because of better matching of the material structure and surface chemistry.

Carbon dioxide assimilation and photosynthetic electron transport of tea leaves under nitrogen deficiency.

BACKGROUND: Tea plant is famed in humid and sub-humid of tropical regions, sub-tropical regions, and is a leaf-harvested crop. Nitrogen is the most important nutrient for increasing quality of tea leaves. Therefore, large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer are increasingly applied by tea farmers. Appropriate application of nitrogen fertilizer aroused people's concern. This research of physiological response to N deficiency stress will be helpful for appropriate application of nitrogen fertilizer for tea farmers and elucidate a mechanistic basis for the reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) assimilation. RESULTS: To elucidate a mechanistic basis for the reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) assimilation under nitrogen (N) deficiency tea leaves, changes in chlorophyll (Chl), carbohydrates, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) and chlorophyll fluorescence transient were examined together with six N treatment (0, 50, 100, 300, 1200 or 6000 µM N). Root, stem and leaves dry weight (DW) increased as N supply increased from 0 to 300 µM, then remained unchanged. The reductions in CO2 assimilation of N-deficient leaves paralleled with high intercellular CO2 concentration. Rubisco activity, protein and Chl content increased linearly or curvilinearly over the range of leaf N content examined except unchanged as leaf N from 2.15 to 2.79 g m-2. Chlorophyll fluorescence transient from N-deficient leaves displayed a depression at the P-step, accompanied by a new step at about 150 µs (L-step). Fv/Fm, REo/ETo, ETo/ABS, Sm, ETo/CSo, PIabs, PItot, abs, were decreased in N-deficient leaves but increased DIo/CSo, DIo/RC and DIo/ABS. Regressive analysis showed that CO2 assimilation decreased linearly or curvilinearly with decreasing initial rubisco, PIabs and Leaf Chl, respectively. Therefore, we concluded the decreased photosynthetic electron transport capacity, leaf chl content and initial rubisco activity are probably the main factors contributing to decreased CO2 assimilation under N deficiency. CONCLUSIONS: The decreased photosynthetic electron transport capacity, leaf Chl content and initial rubisco activity are probably the main factors contributing to decreased CO2 assimilation under N deficiency.