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Journal of Tea Science ›› 2025, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (4): 559-570.doi: 10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2025.04.004

• Research Paper • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Identification of Circadian Clock CsLUX Gene and Its Effects on Photosynthetic Characteristics in Tea Plants

SUN Mengzhen1, HU Zhihang1, YANG Kaixin1, ZHANG Jiaqi1, ZHANG Nan2, XIONG Aisheng2, LIU Hui2, ZHUANG Jing1,*   

  1. 1. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affair Key Laboratory of Biology and Germplasm Enhancement of Horticultural Crops in East China, Tea Research Institution, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China;
    2. State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China;
  • Received:2025-01-07 Revised:2025-04-04 Online:2025-08-15 Published:2025-08-15

Abstract: Tea is a cash crop with large cultivated area in China, and its growth and development mechanism are strictly regulated by genes related to biological clock. In this study, the CsLUX gene was cloned using cDNA from tea cultivar ‘Longjing 43’ as template and sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis were performed. Within two photoperiodic periods (48 h), the relative expression of CsLUX gene was detected by RT-qPCR, and photosynthetic parameters, stomatal opening and chlorophyll contents in tea leaves were also determined. The total length of CsLUX gene is 951 bp, encoding a hydrophilic protein composed of 316 amino acids. The secondary structure is mainly composed of α-helix and random curling. CsLUX is closely related to CCA1, ELF3 and other key components of the biological clock. The variation trend of photosynthetic parameters in tea leaves at different time points was basically consistent with stomatal opening, and the value of chlorophyll SPAD was basically stable. The relative expression of CsLUX reached its peak under dark conditions and maintained a low expression level during the day in response to changes in circadian rhythm. The expression of CsLUX gene was correlated with the rhythmic changes of photosynthetic parameters in two photoperiodic periods (48 h) in tea plants.

Key words: tea plant, circadian clock, CsLUX, photosynthetic characteristics, expression analysis

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