Chinese scientists have made an important breakthrough in the study of the origin and evolution of tea trees

, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A study led by the China Agriculture
Tea Research Institute and the Shenzhen Agricultural Genome Research Institute of China Agriculture
has revealed the systematic relationship between tea tree groups and depicts the evolutionary history of cultivated tea trees. The research results provide rich material for the study of tea tree genomics and breeding, as well as the study of tea tree genetics and evolution.
tea is the world's drink. Tea tree originated in China, widely distributed in China, rich in species resources, black tea, green tea, oolong tea, yellow tea, black tea, white tea and other 6 tea categories have their own characteristics, but there is little research on the evolution of tea tree.
researchers first used the famous fine tea tree variety "Longjing 43" as the material to overcome the problem of highly hybrid genome and high proportion of repeated sequences, and completed the assembly of "Longjing 43" chromosome-level genome. On this basis, the researchers found the genetic "code" that determines the excellent economics such as early germination, high yield and strong resistance of Longjing 43.
According to Yang Yajun, a researcher at the China Agriculture
Tea Research Institute, this year coincides with the 60th anniversary of the introduction of "Longjing 43", a leading tea tree variety in the country's main green tea producing area, and the results of the study explain the molecular nature of the characteristics of "Longjing 43" with excellent quality and strong resistance.
Based on the high-quality genome assembled by Longjing 43, the researchers analyzed the genome variation of 139 representative tea tree materials from different countries and regions of the world, revealing the systematic relationship between tea tree groups and depicting the evolutionary history of cultivated tea tree.
The study found that the wild close-edge population of tea trees was the ancestor of cultivated small and medium leaf tea varieties (most of which belong to tea variants in plant classification) and large leaf tea varieties (most of which belong to Assam tea variants in plant classification), and that there were differences in the direction of choice in the process of domestication. The terpene metabolite gene in tea trees in small and medium-sized leaves in China is expressed in buds and leaves, which means that its flavor characteristics are more obvious and abundant.
published the results online on July 7 in Nature Communications, an internationally renowned academic journal. The research participants also include the Kunming
Institute of Zoology of China, the Institute of Agriculture
Yunnan Province, etc.