Insights into the physiological, molecular, and genetic regulators of albinism in Camellia sinensis leaves.

Introduction: Yanling Yinbiancha, a cultivar of Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze, is an evergreen woody perennial with characteristic albino leaves. A mutant variant with green leaves on branches has been recently identified. The molecular mechanisms underlying this color variation remain unknown. Methods: We aimed to utilize omics tools to decipher the molecular basis for this color variation, with the ultimate goal of enhancing existing germplasm and utilizing it in future breeding programs. Results and discussion: Albinotic leaves exhibited significant chloroplast degeneration and reduced carotenoid accumulation. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of the two variants revealed 1,412 differentially expressed genes and 127 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs). Enrichment analysis for DEGs suggested significant enrichment of pathways involved in the biosynthesis of anthocyanins, porphyrin, chlorophyll, and carotenoids. To further narrow down the causal variation for albinotic leaves, we performed a conjoint analysis of metabolome and transcriptome and identified putative candidate genes responsible for albinism in C. sinensis leaves. 12, 7, and 28 DEGs were significantly associated with photosynthesis, porphyrin/chlorophyll metabolism, and flavonoid metabolism, respectively. Chlorophyllase 2, Chlorophyll a-Binding Protein 4A, Chlorophyll a-Binding Protein 24, Stay Green Regulator, Photosystem II Cytochrome b559 subunit beta along with transcription factors AP2, bZIP, MYB, and WRKY were identified as a potential regulator of albinism in Yanling Yinbiancha. Moreover, we identified Anthocyanidin reductase and Arabidopsis Response Regulator 1 as DEGs influencing flavonoid accumulation in albino leaves. Identification of genes related to albinism in C. sinensis may facilitate genetic modification or development of molecular markers, potentially enhancing cultivation efficiency and expanding the germplasm for utilization in breeding programs.

Comparative study of vegetative and reproductive growth of different tea varieties response to different fluoride concentrations stress.

BACKGROUND: The amount of fluoride accumulation in tea leaves was gradually increase as the matures of tea plants, and the excessive fluoride intake can threaten people's health. Based on years of field investigations, a low level of fluoride variety Xiangbo Lǜ (XBL) and a high level of fluoride variety Zhenong 139 (ZN139) were selected. RESULTS: In this study, the root, 1st and the 5th leaf of the two-year-old tea trees were used for morphological, physiological and comparative transcriptomics analysis to understand the different features of "XBL" and "ZN139" under fluoride stress conditions. The color of the 1st and 5th leaves of XBL were yellower, the activity of peroxidase, catalase and antioxidant enzyme were lower than ZN139 under the high-fluoride stress. Transcriptomics analysis indicated that core genes involved in photosynthesis rates regulation showed no significantly exchanged expression, the co-downregulation of magnesium ions transportation, while the ROS scavenging, vegetative growth and self-compatibility between the two varieties were different. Crucial genes' expression were also identified by the real-time RT-PCR. CONCLUSION: The tea tree is one of the few plants that has a high-fluoride content, but the different varieties respond differently to fluoride stress. High-fluoride tea tree varieties, such as ZN139, have stronger ROS scavenging abilities through the use of both their non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidant systems which act by increasing the expression levels of inositol-1-monophosphatases and peroxidases, among others. ZN139 can also compensate for the decrease in photosynthetic rate that is associated with the ionic imbalance caused by the reduced consumption of light energy during long-periods of high fluoride stress. Reproductive development was protected in ZN139 by the up-regulated expression of S-locus glycoprotein, Mildew resistance locus o and Phospholipase D under fluoride stress, while the vegetative development of low-fluoride varieties such as XBL was retarded. More starch and cellulose were redistributed to glucose by increasing the expression levels of glycosyl transferases and hydrolases to provide more energy for processes involved in the response and tolerance towards fluoride stress.

Case-control study and transmission disequilibrium test provide consistent evidence for association between schizophrenia and genetic variation in the 22q11 gene ZDHHC8.

Genetic variants in the 22q11 gene ZDHHC8, which encodes a putative transmembrane palmitoyltransferase, has been associated to schizophrenia in family-based linkage disequilibrium (LD) studies. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs175174 (A/G), which had the strongest association, has been shown recently to regulate the level of the fully functional transcript by modulating the retention of intron 4 of ZDHHC8. In this work, we genotyped three genetic variants within the ZDHHC8 locus and conducted association studies in both population- and family-based samples of the Han Chinese population. The three polymorphisms spanning approximately 5.5 Kb were detected to be in significant LD. Our results provided compelling supportive evidence for association of the variants within the ZDHHC8 locus with schizophrenia but revealed different risk allele at SNP rs175174. The G allele was significantly more common in cases than in controls (69.47 : 59.96%; P=0.000018) and excess transmission of the same allele was confirmed in the family-based transmission disequilibrium test (transmitted/non-transmitted=87 : 54; P=0.0055). Both sample sets even shared the same risk haplotype with similar frequency. Our current data presents consistent association results obtained from both case-control and family-based samples in a same laboratory under the same experimental condition. Despite the potential genetic heterogeneity, our independent findings further support that the 22q11 region is likely to harbor candidate schizophrenia susceptibility genes.