Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Differences Between Triploid and Diploid Tea Plants in Photosynthesis and Flavonoid Metabolism

SHANG Xuechun; JIANG Huixin; LIU Shuying; HE Yuanyuan; WANG Yu

doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.05.005

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Journal of Tea Science ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (5) : 843-856. DOI: 10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.05.005

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Differences Between Triploid and Diploid Tea Plants in Photosynthesis and Flavonoid Metabolism

SHANG Xuechun^1,2, JIANG Huixin^1,2, LIU Shuying^1,2, HE Yuanyuan^1,2, WANG Yu^1,2,*

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Abstract

Polyploidization in plants promotes the development of excellent agronomic traits and breaks the limitations of traditional breeding methods, However, research on tea plant polyploids remains scarce at present. In this study, six diploid and six triploid tea cultivars were used as experimental materials. Ploidy identification was conducted via flow cytometry and chromosome counting, and ploidy-related differences were analyzed by combining transcriptome sequencing with the determination of physiological indices. The results show that the contents of chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll in triploid tea plants were significantly higher than those in diploid ones, with superior photosynthetic parameters such as net photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate, leading to a remarkable enhancement in photosynthetic capacity. Additionally, the accumulation of flavonoid metabolites including tea polyphenols and total catechins was significantly increased in triploid tea plants. Transcriptome analysis reveals that compared with the diploid tea cultivars ‘Fuding Dabaicha', the differentially expressed genes of the six triploid varieties were enriched in pathways such as photosynthesis and flavonoid biosynthesis, and nine core differentially expressed genes were screened out. Among them, photosynthesis-related genes were mostly up-regulated, while flavonoid synthesis-related genes were all down-regulated. This study provids a theoretical foundation and experimental basis for the identification and evaluation of polyploid tea germplasm resources as well as cultivar breeding.

Key words

Camellia sinensis / polyploid / photosynthesis / catechins / transcriptome

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SHANG Xuechun, JIANG Huixin, LIU Shuying, HE Yuanyuan, WANG Yu. Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Differences Between Triploid and Diploid Tea Plants in Photosynthesis and Flavonoid Metabolism[J]. Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(5): 843-856 https://doi.org/10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.05.005

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