title: An RNA-Seq transcriptome analysis revealing novel insights into aluminum tolerance and accumulation in tea plant.
abstract: The tea plant ( Camellia sinensis L. O. Kuntze) is a high aluminum (Al) tolerant and accumulator species. Candidate genes related to Al tolerance in tea plants were assembled based on de novo transcriptome analysis. The homologs implied some common and distinct Al-tolerant mechanism between tea plants and rice, Arabidopsis and buckwheat. In addition to high Al tolerance, the tea plant exhibits good performance exposure to a proper Al level, and accumulates high Al in the leaves without any toxicity symptom. Therefore, Al was considered as a hyperaccumulator and beneficial element for tea plants. However, the whole-genome molecular mechanisms accounting for Al-tolerance and accumulation remain unknown in tea plants. In this study, transcriptome analysis by RNA-Seq following a gradient Al-level exposure was assessed to further reveal candidate genes involved. Totally more than 468 million high-quality reads were generated and 213,699 unigenes were de novo assembled, among which 8922 unigenes were all annotated in the seven databases used. A large number of transporters, transcription factors, cytochrome P450, ubiquitin ligase, organic acid biosynthesis, heat shock proteins differentially expressed in response to high Al (P ≤ 0.05) were identified, which were most likely ideal candidates involved in the Al tolerance or accumulation. Furthermore, a few of the candidate Al-responsive genes related to Al sequestration, cell wall modification and organic acid excretion have been well elucidated as was already found in Arabidopsis, rice, and buckwheat. Thus, some consistent Al-tolerance mechanisms across the species are indicated. In conclusion, the transcriptome data provided useful insights of promising candidates for further characterizing the functions of genes involved in Al tolerance and accumulation in tea plants.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.|College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.|College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.|College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.|College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ziwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.|College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.|College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yulu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China. zhaohua@mail.hzau.edu.cn.|College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China. zhaohua@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.|College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dejiang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ni
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000633:toxicity*; D028241:Camellia sinensis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant; D000535:Aluminum
keywords: Aluminum stress; Camellia sinensis L.O. Kuntze; Candidate genes; De novo transcriptome