Sugar signal mediates the flavonoid biosynthesis in tea leaves. Issue 1 (14th March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lv, Yi-Qing; Li, Da; Wu, Liang-Yu; Zhu, Yu-Meng; Ye, Ying; Zheng, Xin-Qiang; Lu, Jian-Liang; Liang, Yue-Rong; Li, Qing-Sheng; Ye, Jian-Hui
• Is Part Of: Horticulture research. Volume 9:Issue 1(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-03-14
• Subjects: Horticulture -- Research -- Periodicals; 635.072
• DOI: 10.1093/hr/uhac049
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2052-7276

Abstract

Abstract: Sugar metabolisms and flavonoid biosynthesis varied with the development of tea leaves. In order to understand the regulatory mechanisms underlying the associations in between, a comprehensive transcriptomic analysis of naturally growing tea leaves with different maturity was carried out. Based on the weighted gene coexpression network analysis, the key gene modules (Modules 2 and 3) related to the undulating phenomenon between sugar metabolism and flavonoid biosynthesis as well as the corresponding hub genes were achieved. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the transcription factors (TFs) in Modules 2 and 3 were mainly enriched in the pathway of plant hormone signal transduction. The in vitro study showed that the transcriptional levels of ERF1B-like TF for HXK inhibitor and sucrose treatments were respectively up-regulated by 28.1 and 30.2 folds higher than control, suggesting that ERF1B-like TF participated in the sugar-induced regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis. The results of yeast one-hybrid and dual-luciferase assays demonstrated that CsF3'H encoding flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase was the target flavonoid biosynthetic gene for CsERF1B-like TF. Our study identified the potential key regulators participating in the metabolisms of sugars and flavonoids, providing new insights into the cross-talk between sugar metabolism and flavonoid biosynthesis in tea plants.