Transcriptional Analysis of Tea Plants (Camellia sinensis) in Response to Salicylic Acid Treatment

Abstract

Salicylic acid (SA) is an important plant hormone and signal required for establishing resistance to diverse pathogens and plant diseases. The abundant polyphenols in tea plants also defend plants from biotic and abiotic stresses. However, whether exogenous SA would increase the resistance of tea plants to adversity and the relationship between SA and polyphenols are still poorly understood. Here, we carried out SA treatment on tea seedlings and performed transcriptome sequencing. SA treatment inhibited the phenylpropanoid and flavonoid metabolic pathways but promoted the lignin metabolic pathways. The increased accumulation of lignin in tea leaves after treating with SA indicated that lignin might coordinate SA, enhance, and improve plant defense and disease resistance. Simultaneously, an SA-inducible flavonoid glucosyltransferase (CsUGT0554) specifically involved in 7-OH site glycosylation was characterized in vitro. These results provided valuable information about the effects of SA on tea seedlings and the molecular basis for SA-mediated immune responses.

Changes of physiological characteristics, element accumulation and hormone metabolism of tea leaves in response to soil pH

“…Salicylic acid is a kind of phytohormone, which is mainly stored in the form of salicylic acid 2-O-β-glucoside in the plant, and increasing its content is conducive to the promotion of plant growth, and the improvement of the plant’s defense and disease resistance ability ( Berim and Gang, 2022 ; Liu et al., 2023 b). It can be seen that an increase in soil pH favors an increase in the synthesis of salicylic acid in the tea tree, which in turn induces an increase in the resistance of the tea tree, while the synthesized excess salicylic acid is stored in the leaves of the tea tree in the form of salicylic acid 2-O-β-glucoside.…”

Comparative transcriptome revealed the molecular responses of Aconitum carmichaelii Debx. to downy mildew at different stages of disease development

“…SA is an important plant hormone for establishing connections between diverse pathogens and plant diseases [ 37 ]. Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is the most effective method to defend against pathogen infection.…”

Effects of continuous monoculture on rhizosphere soil nutrients, growth, physiological characteristics, hormone metabolome of Casuarina equisetifolia and their interaction analysis

“…Second, this study found that there were five main characteristic hormones that led to key changes in C. equisetifolia leaves due to continuous planting, among which the contents of SAG, OxIAA, tZOG and GA 3 had a decreasing trend with continuous planting number, while the content of ABA presented an increasing trend. Salicylic acid is a plant hormone, which is mainly stored as SAG in plants, and its increased content is beneficial to improve plant growth and enhance its defense and disease resistance [ 44 , 45 ]. OxIAA is an indoleacetic acid oxide, and at its proper concentration, can improve plant growth and photosynthesis [ 46 ].…”