Transcriptome Analysis Reveals That Ascorbic Acid Treatment Enhances the Cold Tolerance of Tea Plants through Cell Wall Remodeling

Abstract

Cold stress is a major environmental factor that adversely affects the growth and productivity of tea plants. Upon cold stress, tea plants accumulate multiple metabolites, including ascorbic acid. However, the role of ascorbic acid in the cold stress response of tea plants is not well understood. Here, we report that exogenous ascorbic acid treatment improves the cold tolerance of tea plants. We show that ascorbic acid treatment reduces lipid peroxidation and increases the Fv/Fm of tea plants under cold stress. Transcriptome analysis indicates that ascorbic acid treatment down-regulates the expression of ascorbic acid biosynthesis genes and ROS-scavenging-related genes, while modulating the expression of cell wall remodeling-related genes. Our findings suggest that ascorbic acid treatment negatively regulates the ROS-scavenging system to maintain ROS homeostasis in the cold stress response of tea plants and that ascorbic acid’s protective role in minimizing the harmful effects of cold stress on tea plants may occur through cell wall remodeling. Ascorbic acid can be used as a potential agent to increase the cold tolerance of tea plants with no pesticide residual concerns in tea.

Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of Tea SGR Family Members Reveal Their Potential Roles in Chlorophyll Degradation and Stress Tolerance

“…The entire leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana were inoculated with the pCAMBIA2300, 35S::CsSGR1-GFP, 35S::CsSGR2-GFP and 35S::CsSGRL-GFP vectors via the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated method. After 48 h, the inoculated plants were subjected to a 20 min dark period, following which the Fv/Fm of the transformed leaves was measured using a FluorCam 7 (Photon Systems Instruments, Banbury, UK) [33]. The PAM mode was used for Fv/Fm analysis.…”