Comparative transcriptome database for Camellia sinensis reveals genes related to the cold sensitivity and albino mechanism of 'Anji Baicha'

Abstract

Tea, a globally popular beverage, contains various beneficial secondary metabolites. Tea plants (Camellia sinensis) exhibit diverse genetic traits across cultivars, impacting yield, adaptability, morphology, and secondary metabolite composition. Many tea cultivars have been the subject of much research interest, which have led to the accumulation of publicly available RNA-seq data. As such, it has become possible to systematically summarize the characteristics of different cultivars at the transcriptomic level, identify functional genes, and infer gene functions through co-expression analysis. Here, the transcriptomes of 9 tea cultivars were assembled, and comparative analysis was conducted on the coding sequences of 13 cultivars. To give access to this data, we present TeaNekT (https://teanekt.sbs.ntu.edu.sg/), a web resource that facilitates the prediction of gene functions of various tea cultivars. We used TeaNekT to perform a cross-cultivar comparison of co-expressed gene clusters and tissue-specific gene expression. We observed that 'Anji Baicha' possesses the highest number of cultivar-specific genes and the second-highest number of expanded genes. These genes in 'Anji Baicha' tend to be enriched in functions associated with cold stress response, chloroplast thylakoid structure, and nitrogen metabolism. Notably, we identified three significantly expanded homologous genes in 'Anji Baicha' encoding the ICE1, SIZ1, and MAPKK2, which are closely associated with the cold sensitivity of 'Anji Baicha'. Additionally, one significantly expanded homologous gene in 'Anji Baicha' encoding regulatory factor RIQ may play a crucial role in the abnormal chloroplast structure and absence of thylakoid membranes in 'Anji Baicha'.