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Lateral organ boundaries domain LBD proteins are plant-specific transcription factors that play a crucial role in growth and development, as well as metabolic processes. However, knowledge of the function of LBD proteins in Camellia sinensis is limited, and no systematic investigations of the LBD family have been reported.
In this study, we identified 54 LBD genes in Camellia sinensis. The expression patterns of CsLBDs in different tissues and their transcription responses to exogenous hormones and abiotic stress were determined by RNA-seq, which showed that CsLBDs may have diverse functions.
The integrative analysis of CsLBD expression levels and metabolite accumulation also suggested that CsLBDs are involved in the regulation of flavonoid synthesis. Our results present a comprehensive characterization of the 54 CsLBDs in Camellia sinensis and provide new insight into the important role that CsLBDs play in abiotic and flavonoid biosynthesis.
Plants have evolved a variety of biochemical and physiological mechanisms to survive under temporary or continuous environmental challenges 12. Transcription factor TF families play important roles in plant growth, development and environmental stress responses 34.
LBD genes also play important roles in metabolic processes in higher plants, such as anthocyanin and nitrogen metabolism 7. As the complete reference genomes of more species are sequenced, the LBD gene family has been identified in several plants.
In Arabidopsis and zea mays43 and 44 LBD members have been found, respectively, 35 have been identified in rice, 57 in poplar, 58 in malus domestica28 in brachypodium and 46 in tomato 689101112 According to characteristic sequence motifs, LBD genes are divided into two classes.
Usually, members of the Class I group are involved in plant development and auxin signal transduction cascades 1415 In contrast, Class II LBD genes, which possess a conserved zinc finger-like domain cannot form coiled-coil structures 8 In Arabidopsisseveral LBDs have been characterized.
For example, AtASL4 AtLOB is predominantly expressed in the proximal base of lateral tissues and interacts with various transcription factors and proteins to participate in early leaf development 5. The functions of LBD genes have also been studied in other species.
For example, OsIG1 homologous to AtAS2 can affect leaf lateral growth by regulating the division and differentiation of vesicular cells between vascular bundles ZmIG1 plays a key role in the regulation of female gamete development and leaf axial differentiation Previous studies have documented that flavonoids have strong antioxidant activity as well as many other medicinal properties that act against a variety of human diseases vargens dång lbd Catechins are a major component of flavonoids and are synthesized through the flavonoid pathway, which has been intensively investigated in several plant species 272829 Firstly, conversion of phenylalanine to chalcon, a common precursor in the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway, is catalyzed by phenylalanine ammonia-lyse PALcinnamate 4-hydroxylase C4H4-coumarate-CoA ligase 4CL and chalcone synthase CHS 31 Catechin content is greatest in new tea shoots, and gradually decreases with the maturation of tissues and the growth of plants