Combined analysis of lipidomics and transcriptomics revealed the key pathways and genes of lipids in light-sensitive albino tea plant (Camellia sinensis cv. Baijiguan)

Zhe Zhou; Mingjie Chen; Quanjin Wu; Wen Zeng; Zhidan Chen; Weijiang Sun

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.1035119

Combined analysis of lipidomics and transcriptomics revealed the key pathways and genes of lipids in light-sensitive albino tea plant (Camellia sinensis cv. Baijiguan)

Front Plant Sci. 2022 Oct 18:13:1035119. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1035119. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Zhe Zhou^{1

2}, Mingjie Chen³, Quanjin Wu⁴, Wen Zeng^{1

2}, Zhidan Chen^{2

5}, Weijiang Sun^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Horticulture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China.
² Ministerial and Provincial Joint Innovation Centre for Safety Production of Cross-Strait Crops, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China.
³ College of Life Science, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang, China.
⁴ Department of Finance and Management, The Open University of Fujian, Fuzhou, China.
⁵ Anxi College of Tea Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Quanzhou, China.

Abstract

Currently, the mechanism by which light-sensitive albino tea plants respond to light to regulate pigment synthesis has been only partially elucidated. However, few studies have focused on the role of lipid metabolism in the whitening of tea leaves. Therefore, in our study, the leaves of the Baijiguan (BJG) tea tree under shade and light restoration conditions were analyzed by a combination of lipidomics and transcriptomics. The leaf color of BJG was regulated by light intensity and responded to light changes in light by altering the contents and proportions of lipids. According to the correlation analysis, we found three key lipid components that were significantly associated with the chlorophyll SPAD value, namely, MGDG (36:6), DGDG (36:6) and DGDG (34:3). Further weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) showed that HY5 TF and GLIP genes may be hub genes involved lipid regulation in albino tea leaves. Our results lay a foundation for further exploration of the color changes in albino tea leaves.

Keywords: Camellia sinensis; WGCNA; albino tea plant; light; lipidomics; transcriptomics.