State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.
School of Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China.
J Agric Food Chem. 2021 Jan 13;69(1):615-626. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c06490. Epub 2020 Dec 29.
Theanine (thea) is one of the most important plant-derived characteristic secondary metabolites and a major healthcare product because of its beneficial biological activities, such as being an antianxiety agent, promoting memory, and lowering blood pressure. Thea mostly accumulates in plants and is especially rich in (tea plant). Although some functional genes (e.g., , , and ) attributed to thea accumulation have been separately well explored in tea plants, the evolution of a regulatory module (highly interacting gene group) related to thea metabolism remains to be elaborated. Herein, a thea-associated regulatory module (TARM) was mined by using a comprehensive analysis of a weighted gene coexpression network in and non- species. Comparative genomic analysis of 84 green plant species revealed that TARM originated from the ancestor of green plants (algae) and that TARM genes were recruited from different evolutionary nodes with the most gene duplication events at the early stage. Among the TARM genes, two core transcription factors of and were deduced, which may play a crucial role in regulating the biosynthesis of thea. Our findings provide the first insights into the origin and evolution of TARM and indicate a promising paradigm for identifying vital regulatory genes involved in thea metabolism.
茶氨酸（thea）是最重要的植物源性特征次生代谢物之一，也是一种主要的保健产品，因为它具有有益的生物活性，如抗焦虑、促进记忆和降低血压。茶氨酸主要在 植物中积累，尤其是在 （茶树）中含量丰富。虽然已经分别在茶树中对一些与茶氨酸积累有关的功能基因（例如 、 、 ）进行了很好的探索，但与茶氨酸代谢相关的调节模块（高度相互作用的基因群）的进化仍有待阐述。在此，通过对 和非 物种的加权基因共表达网络进行综合分析，挖掘了一个与茶氨酸相关的调节模块（TARM）。对 84 种绿色植物物种的比较基因组分析表明，TARM 起源于绿色植物（藻类）的祖先，并且 TARM 基因是从不同的进化节点招募而来的，在早期发生了最多的基因复制事件。在 TARM 基因中，推导出了 和 的两个核心转录因子，它们可能在调节茶氨酸生物合成中发挥关键作用。我们的研究结果首次揭示了 TARM 的起源和进化，并为鉴定参与茶氨酸代谢的重要调节基因提供了一个有前途的范例。
