Objective The full-length transcriptomes of tissues of the famed Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze cv. Fuding Dabaicha were obtained to facilitate cultivar selection in upgrading the Duyun Maojian tea industry and increasing farmers’ income in Guizhou province.
Method The Oxford nanopore technology (ONT) was applied to secure the full-length transcriptomes in the leaves, roots, and stems of the tea plant. Gene expressions in the tissues were analyzed. For verification of the ONT results, expressions of 4 randomly selected genes were tested by qRT-PCR.
Result The ONT sequencing rendered 69,379 full-length transcripts with approximately 93,102 SSRs, 45,852 ORFs, 6,335 transcription factors, and 2,229 lncRNAs. The differential expression transcripts (DETs) among the leaves, roots, and stems were identified. Between the leaves and roots, there were 9,646 DETs annotated to GO database, 2,825 to KEGG, and 7,348 to KOG. The metabolisms of various amino acids, flavonoid biosynthesis, and phenylpropanol biosynthesis were related to the taste that affects the quality of a tea. Whereas the metabolic pathways involving aroma formation might include biosynthesis of ubiquinone and other terpene quinone. The ONT transcriptomes agreed with the qRT-PCR test results.
Conclusion Two differentially expressed genes, ONT.24127.2 and TEA003892.1, were identified to be related to glutamate synthase. Theanine, which is closely associated with tea quality, was synthesized in the roots, then transported to the leaves. The full-length transcriptomes on Fuding Dabaicha demonstrated the practical application of the information for tea cultivar selection.
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