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Journal of Tea Science ›› 2022, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (4): 463-476.doi: 10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2022.04.005

• Research Paper • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Expression Analysis and Functional Identification of CsTT2 R2R3-MYB Transcription Factor in Tea Plants

WANG Yuyuan1, LIU Renjian1, LIU Shaoqun1, SHU Canwei2, SUN Binmei1, ZHENG Peng1,*   

  1. 1. College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China;
    2. College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University/Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Microbial Signals and Disease Control/Integrative Microbiology Research Center, Guangzhou 510642, China
  • Received:2021-12-27 Revised:2022-01-19 Online:2022-08-15 Published:2022-08-23

Abstract: Catechin is one of the most characteristic secondary metabolites in tea plants and the main component affecting tea quality and flavor. It possessesrich pharmacological effects, such as anti-oxidation, anti-virus, lipid lowering and weight loss, etc. In this study, the function of a catechin biosynthetic regulator CsTT2 was preliminarily identified using phylogenetic analysis, gene expression pattern analysis and molecular biology experiments. The results show that CsTT2 was a R2R3-MYB transcription factor that shares a branch withthe MYB transcription factor in Arabidopsis thaliana that regulates secondary metabolites. The expression levels of CsTT2 and catechin biosynthesis genes were relatively high in the apical bud tissue of tea plants with higher total catechin content. The results of subcellular localization, yeast assay and dual luciferase reporting system further reveal that CsTT2 was located into the nucleus and the protein it encodes possessed transcriptional activation capacity. CsTT2 could bind to the promoter of a key catechin biosynthetic gene ANR to activate its expression.

Key words: tea plant, R2R3-MYB transcription factor, CsTT2, catechin biosynthesis

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