Integrative transcriptome, proteome, and microRNA analysis reveals the effects of nitrogen sufficiency and deficiency conditions on theanine metabolism in the tea plant (Camellia sinensis)

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) is associated with amino acid metabolism in higher plants. Theanine is an important amino acid in tea plants. To explore the relationship between theanine metabolism and N conditions, we examined the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), proteins (DEPs), and microRNAs (DEMs) involved in theanine metabolism in tea plant shoots and roots under N sufficiency and deficiency conditions. Transcriptome, proteome, and microRNA analyses were performed on tea plant shoots and roots under N sufficiency and deficiency conditions. The contents of theanine, expression levels of genes involved in theanine metabolism, contents of proteinogenic amino acids, and activity of enzymes were analyzed. The DEP–DEG correlation pairs and negative DEM–DEG interactions related to theanine metabolism were identified based on correlation analyses. The expression profiles of DEGs and negative DEM–DEG pairs related to theanine biosynthesis were consistent with the sequencing results. Our results suggest that the molecular and physiological mechanism of theanine accumulation is significantly affected by N sufficiency and deficiency conditions. The DEGs, DEPs, and DEMs and the activity of the enzymes involved in theanine biosynthesis might play vital roles in theanine accumulation under N sufficiency and deficiency conditions in the shoots and roots of tea plants.

Potassium Deficiency Significantly Affected Plant Growth and Development as Well as microRNA-Mediated Mechanism in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

“…K + deficiency affected root development in a wide range of plant species (Jia et al, 2008;Maathuis, 2009;Zhang et al, 2009;Hafsi et al, 2014;Guo et al, 2019). To study the potential miRNA-mediated mechanism in which plant responds to K + deficiency, we have selected and tested a total of 20 miRNAs that are associated with root development (Khan et al, 2011;Couzigou and Combier, 2016;Li and Zhang, 2016) and responses to nutrients (Maathuis, 2009;Kulcheski et al, 2015) including nitrogen and phosphorus deficiency (Bao et al, 2019;Filina et al, 2019;Yang et al, 2019;Asefpour Vakilian, 2020;Hou et al, 2020;Liu et al, 2020;Lv et al, 2020;Tiwari et al, 2020). These 20 miRNAs were miR160, miR164, miR165, miR166, miR167, miR169, miR171, miR172, miR390, miR393, miR396, miR847, miR857, miR156, miR162, miR319, miR395, miR778, miR399, and miR827.…”

SWEET Transporters and the Potential Functions of These Sequences in Tea (Camellia sinensis)

“…The genome of C. sinensis experienced two rounds of wholegenome duplications (WGDs), including an ancient WGD event (∼90 to 100 Mya) and a recent WGD event (∼30 to 40 Mya) (Wei et al, 2018;Wu et al, 2018;Liu et al, 2020;Xia et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020b). To gain insight into the expansion mechanism of the members from CsSWEET gene family, we carried out a microsynteny analysis with E-value 10−5 as described by FIGURE 4 | Expression profiles of the CsSWEETs in different tissues, including seed, flower, stem, root, two and a bud, one and a bud, old leaf, mature leaf, the second leaf, the first leaf, lateral bud, apical bud, and early stage lateral bud.…”

“…Some published papers focused on the genes that participated in sugar metabolism, such as hexose kinase, invertase, and galactinol synthase, in C. sinensis ( Yue et al, 2015 ; Zhou et al, 2017 ; Samarina et al, 2020 ). Due to the economic interest in C. sinensis as a beverage crop, its genome, proteome, and transcriptome were recently sequenced and released ( Wei et al, 2018 ; Wu et al, 2018 ; Liu et al, 2020 ; Xia et al, 2020 ; Zhang et al, 2020b ), which help us to analyze the SWEET genes in C. sinensis systematically. In the present study, 26 CsSWEET s in C. sinensis were identified, and their gene structures, phylogenetic, microsynteny, and expression were analyzed.…”

Roles of Non-Coding RNAs in Response to Nitrogen Availability in Plants

“…Further to the plant species described above, N-responsive miRNAs have also been identified from dicot crop species including soybean ( Glycine max ) [ 118 ], potato (Indian potato variety Kufri Jyoti ) [ 119 ], tea plant ( Camellia sinensis ) [ 120 ], and from other monocot species such as barley ( Hordeum vulgare ) [ 121 ] and wheat ( Triticum aestivum and Triticum turgidum ) [ 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 ], while N-responsive lncRNAs have yet to be systematically explored.…”