Transcriptome analysis reveals the effect of short-term sunlight on aroma metabolism in postharvest leaves of oolong tea(Camellia sinensis)

Huili Deng; Shousong Chen; Ziwei Zhou; Xinlei Li; Si Chen; Juan Hu; Zhongxiong Lai; Yun Sun

doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109347

Transcriptome analysis reveals the effect of short-term sunlight on aroma metabolism in postharvest leaves of oolong tea(Camellia sinensis)

Food Res Int. 2020 Nov:137:109347. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109347. Epub 2020 May 24.

Authors

Huili Deng¹, Shousong Chen², Ziwei Zhou³, Xinlei Li², Si Chen⁴, Juan Hu³, Zhongxiong Lai⁵, Yun Sun⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Tea Science in Fujian Province, College of Horticulture Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, PR China; Institute of Horticultural Biotechnology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, PR China; Public Basic Department, Minjiang Teachers College, Fuzhou, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Tea Science in Fujian Province, College of Horticulture Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, PR China.
³ Key Laboratory of Tea Science in Fujian Province, College of Horticulture Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, PR China; Institute of Horticultural Biotechnology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, PR China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Tea Science in Fujian Province, College of Horticulture Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, PR China; FAFU-UCR Joint Center for Horticultural Biology and Metabolomics, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, PR China.
⁵ Institute of Horticultural Biotechnology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, PR China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Tea Science in Fujian Province, College of Horticulture Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, PR China. Electronic address: sunyun1125@126.com.

PMID: 33233053
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109347

Abstract

Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.)) is an important economic plant. Light is the earliest external signal factor during the postharvest processing of oolong tea, and the solar withering is an indispensable process for aroma formation. In this study, Tieguanyin was used to analyze the effect of sunlight on aroma metabolism, which indicated that the main aroma compounds were significantly increased during solar withering for 15 min compared to the indoor withering. In addition, differentially expressed genes related to aroma metabolism were identified and quantified using the high-throughput Illumina RNA-Seq technology. The expression levels of key regulatory genes were consistent with the results from the gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) analysis, especially in terpenoid metabolic pathway, which showed that aroma metabolism could significantly respond to the short-term light, while its expression level was easily inhibited by the up-regulation of heat shock protein. Taken together, those data provides further insights into the mechanisms, contributing to aroma metabolism of tea plant.

Keywords: Aroma metabolism; HSF; HSPs; Indoor withering; Solar withering; Volatile compounds.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Camellia sinensis* / genetics
Gene Expression Profiling
Odorants / analysis
Plant Leaves / genetics
Sunlight
Tea

Substances

Tea