This study investigated the regulatory relationship between important flavor compounds and microRNA (miRNA) in nine different tissues of tea plant by analyzing the related metabolites, small RNAs (sRNAs), degradome, and coexpression network. A total of 272 differential expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) were obtained, including 198 conserved miRNAs and 74 novel miRNAs. Meanwhile, the expression patterns of miR159-GAMYB, miR167-ARF, and miR396-GRF pairs were investigated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and the target sites were verified by 5'RNA ligase-mediated RACE (5' RLM-RACE). Further coexpression analysis showed that the content of gallated catechins was significantly and negatively correlated with the expression of miR156, but positively correlated with the expression of miR166 and miR172. Additionally, the expression of miR169a, miR169l, and miR319h was shown to be positively correlated with the content of nongallated catechins and the experssion levels of ANRa, ANRb, and LARb. Moreover, important volatile compounds, such as linalool, geraniol, and 2-phenylethanol, were found to be highly positively correlated with the expression of miR171o, miRN71a, miRN71b, miRN71c, and miRN71d. Our data indicate that these miRNAs may play important roles in regulating the biosynthesis of flavor compounds in different tissues of tea plant.
Keywords: flavor compounds; miRNA; secondary metabolism; tea plant; tissues.