title: Productivity and biochemical properties of green tea in response to full-length and functional fragments of HpaG Xooc, a harpin protein from the bacterial rice leaf streak pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola.
abstract: Harpin proteins from plant pathogenic bacteria can stimulate hypersensitive cell death (HCD), drought tolerance, defence responses against pathogens and insects in plants, as well as enhance plant growth. Recently, we identified nine functional fragments of HpaG;Xooc, a harpin protein from Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzicola, the pathogen that causes bacterial leaf streak in rice. Fragments HpaG;1-94'HpaG;10-42, and HpaG;62-138, which contain the HpaG;Xooc regions of the amino acid sequence as indicated by the number spans, exceed the parent protein in promoting growth, pathogen defence and HCD in plants. Here we report improved productivity and biochemical properties of green tea (Camellia sinensis) in response to the fragments tested in comparison with HpaG;Xooc and an inactive protein control. Field tests suggested that the four proteins markedly increased the growth and yield of green tea, and increased the leaf content of tea catechols, a group of compounds that have relevance in the prevention and treatment of human diseases. In particular, HpaG;1-94 was more active than HpaG;Xooc in expediting the growth of juvenile buds and leaves used as green tea material and increased the catechol content of processed teas. When tea shrubs were treated with HpaH;Xooc and HpaG;1-94 compared with a control, green tea yields were over 55% and 39% greater, and leaf catechols were increased by more than 64% and 72%, respectively. The expression of three homologues of the expansin genes, which regulate plant cell growth, and the CsCHS gene encoding a tea chalcone synthase, which critically regulates the biosynthesis of catechols, were induced in germinal leaves of tea plants following treatment with HpaG;1-94 or HpaG;Xooc. Higher levels of gene expression were induced by the application of HpaG;1-94 than HpaG;Xooc. Our results suggest that the harpin protein, especially the functional fragment HpaG;1-94, can be used to effectively increase the yield and improve the biochemical properties of green tea, a drink with medicinal properties.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Monitoring and Management of Plant Pathogens and Insect Pests, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Tingquan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Juying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ruoxue
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Tongchun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Hansong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D028241:Camellia sinensis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012275:Oryza / Q000382:microbiology*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D013662:Tea / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D014974:Xanthomonas / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D013662:Tea