Chuchu Liu , Xichen Wang

Institute of Life Sciences, Jiyang Colloge of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Journal of Tea Science Research, 2024, Vol. 14, No. 5   doi: 10.5376/jtsr.2024.14.0027
Received: 20 Aug., 2024    Accepted: 28 Sep., 2024    Published: 25 Oct., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Liu C.C., and Wang X.C., 2024, Structural variations in tea genome and their role in trait diversity, Journal of Tea Science Research, 14(5): 293-303 (doi: 10.5376/jtsr.2024.14.0027)

Tea (Camellia sinensis) has important economic and cultural significance. The tea aroma, taste and even morphological diversity that everyone is familiar with are actually related to the genomic mechanisms behind it. With the release of high-quality reference genomes and the construction of the pan-genome of tea, more than 217,000 structural variations (SVs) and 56,000 presence/absence variations (PAVs) have been identified. This study analyzed the types and distribution of these SVs and their roles in secondary metabolism, stress resistance, morphological traits, etc. By integrating SV data with multi-omics data such as transcriptome and metabolome, we found that the expression of many key traits is indeed affected by SV regulation. Some SVs directly affect whether genes are expressed or change the location of regulatory elements, thereby promoting the evolution of certain traits. SVs are expected to become targets for trait improvement and are gradually showing their potential for application in molecular breeding. This study provides a more solid theoretical basis and technical support for the precision breeding and genetic resource protection of tea.

Tea tree (Camellia sinensis); Structural variation; Trait diversity; Pan-genome; Molecular breeding; Multi-omics integration