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Journal of Tea Science ›› 2025, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (4): 587-603.doi: 10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2025.04.005

• Research Paper • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analysis of Codon Usage Bias in Chloroplast and Mitochondrial Genomes of Camellia sinensis cv. ‘Baihaozao’

ZENG Wenjuan1,2,3,4, LIU Shan1,2,3,4, WEN Cong1,2,3,4, ZHANG Qixiang1,2,3,4, HUANG Jing5, GONG Yihui1,2,3,4, CHEN Zhiyin1,2,3,4,*   

  1. 1. College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Hunan University of Humanities, Science and Technology, Loudi 417000, China;
    2. Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Center for Horticultural Production and Processing in Hunan Province, Hunan University of Humanities, Science and Technology, Loudi 417000, China;
    3. Hunan University of Humanities, Science and Technology, Hunan Provincial Innovation and Entrepreneurship Demonstration Base, Loudi 417000;
    4. Key Laboratory of Characteristic Agricultural Resource Development and Quality Safety Control in Hunan Province, Hunan University of Humanities, Science and Technology, Loudi 417000, China;
    5. Tea Research Institute of Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha 410125, China
  • Received:2025-01-07 Revised:2025-04-16 Online:2025-08-15 Published:2025-08-15

Abstract: Codon usage bias serves as a critical driving mechanism in gene expression regulation and molecular evolution, holding significant biological importance in the evolution of organelle genomes in plants. This study focused on the economically important tea cultivar ‘Baihaozao’ (Camellia sinensis cv. ‘Baihaozao’) and systematically analyzed the codon usage patterns and evolutionary drivers of its chloroplast (52 genes) and mitochondrial (29 genes) genomes for the first time. The results indicate: (1) the average effective codon number (ENC=44.57±4.59) of the chloroplast genome is significantly lower than that of the mitochondrial genome (ENC=51.87±5.31), with both exhibiting weak preference characteristics. Neutrality analysis reveals that the chloroplast's preference is primarily driven by natural selection (correlation between GC3s and ENC, R2 =-0.016), whereas the mitochondrial genome is regulated by a combination of natural selection and mutational pressure (R² = -0.11), which is consistent with the evolutionary constraints observed in the organelle genomes of dicotyledons. (2) RSCU analysis shows that both types of organelle genomes significantly prefer synonymous codons ending in A/U, with high-expression chloroplast genes (e.g., ndhA, rps14) exhibiting a stronger preference for A/U terminal codons. This suggests that translational selection optimizes highly expressed genes. (3) Through multivariate statistical screening, 18 optimal codons were identified for the chloroplast genome (e.g., GCA, GCU) and 18 optimal codons for the mitochondrial genome (e.g., GCA, AGA). GCA was favored in both organelle types, reflecting the adaptive convergence of functional genes across organelles. This study elucidated the heterogeneity of codon usage characteristics in the organelle genomes of ‘Baihaozao’ and their evolutionary drivers for the first time, providing a theoretical basis for the adaptive optimization of exogenous genes and the construction of cross-organelle expression regulatory networks in molecular tea breeding.

Key words: Camellia sinensis cv. ‘Baihaozao’, chloroplast genome, mitochondrial genome, codon usage bias, optimal codon

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