Recently, Professor Xia Tao's team from the National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement at Anhui Agricultural University published the latest research results in the Horticulture Research, revealing the functional division of tea tree R2R3-MYB gene family members in regulating catechin and proanthocyanidin biosynthesis.

 

The study found that there are 9 R2R3-MYB subgroup 5 family members in tea trees, which can be classified into 3 types: TT2 class, MYB5 class and MYBPA class. Among them, TT2 and MYBPA class members can simultaneously induce key synthesis genes of both catechin and proanthocyanidin, while MYB5 class members only promote catechin synthesis. Mutagenesis experiments confirmed that key amino acid residues in specific domains of R2R3-MYB proteins affect the functional differences of these genes.

 

This study provides a theoretical basis for elucidating the metabolic regulatory mechanisms of tea trees and other proanthocyanidin-rich crops, to achieve precise improvement of quality and medicinal value.