Abstract
Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is a popular world beverage, and propagation of tea plants chiefly depends on the formation of adventitious roots in cuttings. To better understand potential mechanisms involved in adventitious root formation, we performed transcriptome analysis of single nodal cuttings of C. sinensis treated with or without indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) using the Illumina sequencing method. Totally 42.5 million RNA-Seq reads were obtained and these were assembled into 59,931 unigenes, with an average length of 732 bp and an N50 of 1292 bp. In addition, 1091 differentially expressed unigenes were identified in the tea cuttings treated with IBA compared to controls, including 656 up- and 435 down-regulated genes. Further real time RT-PCR analysis confirmed RNA-Seq data. Functional annotation analysis showed that many genes were involved in plant hormone signal transduction, secondary metabolism, cell wall organization and glutathione metabolism, indicating potential contributions to adventitious rooting. Our study presents a global view of transcriptome profiles of tea cuttings in response to IBA treatment and provides new insights into the fundamental mechanisms associated with auxin-induced adventitious rooting. Our data will be a valuable resource for genomic research about adventitious root formation in tea cuttings, which can be used to improve rooting for difficult-to-root varieties.
Highlights
Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is one of the most popular beverages in the world
We previously identified 77 differentially expressed transcripts in tea cuttings treated with or without indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) by suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) [11] and this represented the first exploration of potential genes involved in adventitious roots (ARs) formation in the tea plant
RNA-Seq To obtain genes involved in IBA-induced adventitious root formation, we used basal parts of tea cuttings treated with or without IBA treatment prior to RNA-Seq
Summary
The popularity of tea is due to its rich flavor and taste, and associated with many beneficial effects of human being, such as cancer protection [1] and anti-obesity effects [2]. At this time, tea plant propagation is mainly through nodal cuttings, which ensure quality stability and facilitate the spread of improved cultivars. Many factors affect AR formation via auxin interactions. The auxin-associated mechanism appears essential for AR formation Mechanisms behind this process are only superficially understood, thereby limiting improvements to cutting propagation
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
