萎凋处理对乌龙茶风味品质形成的转录组分析

Transcriptome analysis reveals the role of withering treatment in flavor formation of oolong tea (Camellia sinensis)

摘要:

乌龙茶是一种高香型半发酵茶，因其具有的花果香和鲜醇浓厚口感而广受消费者青睐。在乌龙茶加工过程中，萎凋是促进乌龙茶风味品质形成的第一道工序。然而，乌龙茶萎凋过程中影响风味品质形成的分子机制尚不明确。利用转录组测序对乌龙茶鲜叶、室内萎凋叶和日光萎凋叶进行分析。结果表明，从3个样品中共鉴定出10 793个差异表达基因。KEGG富集分析显示，差异表达基因主要富集在类黄酮合成、萜类化合物合成、植物激素信号转导和剪接体通路。从这4个富集通路中筛选出12个差异表达基因和4个差异剪接基因进行荧光定量PCR分析，结果表明，检测基因在萎凋处理过程中的表达模式与转录组数据集中的结果一致。对上述富集通路进行深入分析后发现，日光萎凋处理后类黄酮合成基因的转录抑制、萜类化合物合成基因的转录增强、茉莉酸信号转导和可变剪接机制共同参与调控了日光萎凋叶中高花果香和低苦涩味的风味品质形成。研究结果有助于进一步了解日光萎凋处理在乌龙茶风味品质形成中的重要性。

Abstract:

Oolong tea is a semi-fermented tea with strong flavor, which is widely favored by consumers because of its floral and fruity aroma as well as fresh and mellow taste. During the processing of oolong tea, withering is the first indispensable process for improving flavor formation. However, the molecular mechanism that affects the flavor formation of oolong tea during withering remains unclear. Transcriptome sequencing was used to analyze the difference among the fresh leaves, indoor-withered leaves and solar-withered leaves of oolong tea. A total of 10 793 differentially expressed genes were identified from the three samples. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in flavonoid synthesis, terpenoid synthesis, plant hormone signal transduction and spliceosome pathways. Subsequently, twelve differentially expressed genes and four differential splicing genes were identified from the four enrichment pathways for fluorescence quantitative PCR analysis. The results showed that the expression patterns of the selected genes during withering were consistent with the results in the transcriptome datasets. Further analysis revealed that the transcriptional inhibition of flavonoid biosynthesis-related genes, the transcriptional enhancement of terpenoid biosynthesis-related genes, as well as the jasmonic acid signal transduction and the alternative splicing mechanism jointly contributed to the flavor formation of high floral and fruity aroma and low bitterness in solar-withered leaves. The results may facilitate better understanding the molecular mechanisms of solar-withering treatment in flavor formation of oolong tea.