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Genetics and Natural Bioactive Components in Beverage Plants
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Genetics and Natural Bioactive Components in Beverage Plants

A special issue of Current Issues in Molecular Biology (ISSN 1467-3045). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2025) | Viewed by 16697

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Qingsheng Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Sericulture and Tea, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Interests: breeding of tea plants; health effects of tea

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the improvement of people’s health awareness, the demands for functional beverages, especially those extracted from plants, is further increasing. Based on the completed reference genome sequences of Coffea arabica, Theobroma cacao, and Camellia sinensis, advances in beverage plant research have been made, from secondary metabolism to genetic mechanisms. Among them, the genetic bases including dynamic development and stress-resistance, synthesis and decomposition of bioactive components, variations in volatile substances, and changes in phenotype have attracted the attention of researchers. Exploring these genes and understanding their underlying mechanisms will improve beverage plant breeding and the mining of bioactive components in the future.

This Special Issue of Current Issues in Molecular Biology will focus on molecular (genetic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic) bases and functional components (polyphenols, flavones, amino acids, alkaloids, polysaccharides, and volatiles) in beverage plants with the aim of promoting the joint discussion of the latest research dynamics and directions. Research papers related to genetics and natural bioactive components in beverage plants, in addition to relative review papers, are welcome.

Dr. Qingsheng Li
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Current Issues in Molecular Biology is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • beverage plants
  • molecular mechanism
  • germplasm
  • breeding
  • phenotypic changes
  • metabolites
  • bioactive components
  • health benefit

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 8770 KiB  
Article
Integrated Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analyses Shed Light on the Regulation of Aromatic Amino Acid Biosynthesis in a Novel Albino Tea (Camellia sinensis) Mutation
by Ying Gao, Suimei Li, Xiaojia Zhang, Shuwei Yu, Xinyu Liu, Changbo Yuan, Yuantao Yao, Fan’an Zhang and Lubin Song
Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2025, 47(8), 644; https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb47080644 - 12 Aug 2025
Viewed by 294
Abstract
Off-white or yellowish shoots are common in tea plants (Camellia sinensis L.), and such albino variations are often accompanied by metabolic reprogramming, including increased contents of amino acids and lower levels of polyphenols. Nonetheless, the molecular mechanisms that underlie these albino variations [...] Read more.
Off-white or yellowish shoots are common in tea plants (Camellia sinensis L.), and such albino variations are often accompanied by metabolic reprogramming, including increased contents of amino acids and lower levels of polyphenols. Nonetheless, the molecular mechanisms that underlie these albino variations remain to be fully clarified. Here, we examined the ultrastructural characteristics of novel, naturally occurring, yellowish mutated tea leaves and performed metabolomic analyses on green and albino leaves and stems. Then, transcriptomic analyses were also conducted on green and albino leaves to investigate the mechanistic basis of the albino variation. As expected, the cells of albino tea leaves contained fewer and smaller chloroplasts with disorganized thylakoids and smaller starch granules. Widely targeted metabolomics analysis revealed 561 differentially abundant metabolites between green and albino leaves and stems, but there was little difference between green and albino stems. Then, RNA sequencing of green and albino leaves revealed downregulation of genes associated with light harvesting and photosynthesis, and integration of the metabolomic and transcriptomic results indicated that biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids (AAAs) was strongly upregulated in albino leaves. To gain additional insight into the molecular basis of the increased AAA levels, Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing was performed on green and albino leaves, which enabled us to identify differences in long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and alternatively spliced transcripts between green and albino leaves. Interestingly, the amino acid biosynthesis genes arogenate dehydratase/prephenate dehydratase (ADT) and serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) were highlighted in the lncRNA and alternative splicing analyses, and the transcription factor genes PLATZ, B3 Os04g0386900, and LRR RLK At1g56140 showed significant changes in both expression and alternative splicing in albino leaves. Together, our data suggest that biosynthesis of AAAs might be crucial for albino mutations in tea plants and could be coordinated with the regulation of lncRNAs and alternative splicing. This is a complex regulatory network, and further exploration of the extensive metabolic reprogramming of albino tea leaves will be beneficial. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetics and Natural Bioactive Components in Beverage Plants)
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16 pages, 2415 KiB  
Article
Biodiversity and Evaluation of Genetic Resources of Some Coffee Trees Grown in Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia
by Fatima Omari Alzahrani, Mohammed Obeid Alshaharni, Gamal Awad El-Shaboury and Abdelfattah Badr
Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2025, 47(3), 136; https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb47030136 - 20 Feb 2025
Viewed by 767
Abstract
The biodiversity of 12 coffee (Coffea arabica L.) cultivars collected from the Al-Baha region in the southwest of Saudi Arabia was evaluated using 25 morphological variations and genetic diversity as demonstrated by molecular polymorphism generated by eight Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSRs) [...] Read more.
The biodiversity of 12 coffee (Coffea arabica L.) cultivars collected from the Al-Baha region in the southwest of Saudi Arabia was evaluated using 25 morphological variations and genetic diversity as demonstrated by molecular polymorphism generated by eight Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSRs) and nine Start Codon Targeted (SCoT) primers. Substantial variations were scored in the morphological traits reflected in the clustering of the examined cultivars in PCA of the coffee cultivars. The examined cultivars were grouped in two groups, one included the cultivars coded Y5, Y6, R113, and Y7 and the other group comprised two clusters; one comprised cultivars coded R8 and R4 and the other comprised cultivars R112, R114, and Y2. In the meantime, the cultivars coded R9 and R111 were differentiated together from other cultivars, while the Y3 cultivar was confirmed by the analysis of ISSR data and SCoT data, which also support the grouping of R9 and R111 cultivars. Principle Component Analysis (PCA) of morphological, ISSR, and SCoT data as a combined set differentiated the examined species into four groups in a scatter plot in agreement with their separation in the cluster trees. The diversity profile among the examined C. arabica cultivars proved that R111 and R4 cultivars are highly diverse, while R8 and Y5 cultivars exhibit low diversity. Alpha diversity indices indicated that R9 and R111 cultivars are the most dominant and stable C. arabica cultivars among the examined samples in the study region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetics and Natural Bioactive Components in Beverage Plants)
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17 pages, 2412 KiB  
Article
Genetic Tendency Analysis and Comprehensive Antioxidant Activity Evaluation of Leaves and Flowers of Loquat F1 Generation
by Qixuan Zhu, Xiaoying Li, Hang Ge, Zhixuan Wang, Binjun Wang, Junwei Chen and Hongxia Xu
Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2025, 47(1), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb47010058 - 16 Jan 2025
Viewed by 982
Abstract
Loquat leaves, flowers, and other organs contain abundant antioxidant substances, which have wide applications in medicine, health, and food industries. This study aims to provide theoretical guidance for loquat hybrid parent and combination selection and a basis for high-quality loquat strain screening and [...] Read more.
Loquat leaves, flowers, and other organs contain abundant antioxidant substances, which have wide applications in medicine, health, and food industries. This study aims to provide theoretical guidance for loquat hybrid parent and combination selection and a basis for high-quality loquat strain screening and development. For comprehensive antioxidant profiling, we used “Ninghaibai” and “Oobusa” loquat and their F1 generation as experimental materials to determine the total phenol, flavonoid, DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP content in the leaves and flowers of 56 strains. Five traits, including total phenols, flavonoids, DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP, were widely separated and normally distributed in the flowers of 56 F1 loquat strains, exhibiting the genetic basis of these quantitative traits. However, these traits displayed widely separated and slightly skewed distribution in the leaves of the F1 generation. The total phenols, flavonoids, DPPH, and FRAP showed a trend of small inheritance in the leaves. However, the ABTS showed a trend of medium and high inheritance in leaves and flowers, respectively. Through cluster and principal component analyses, a comprehensive antioxidant activity evaluation was conducted. Ten strains with comprehensive scores greater than 1 for antioxidant activity in leaves and flowers were selected. Among them, the top three strains with high antioxidant capacity were ND107, “Oobusa”, and ND128. These results suggest that hybrid breeding guided by the genetic characteristics of each trait can improve the possibility of cultivating new varieties with high antioxidant activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetics and Natural Bioactive Components in Beverage Plants)
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16 pages, 4593 KiB  
Article
Comparative Phylogenetic Analysis of Ancient Korean Tea "Hadong Cheon-Nyeon Cha (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis)" Using Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequences
by Doobo Shim, Seung Ho Jeon, Jong Cheol Kim and Dong-Kyung Yoon
Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2024, 46(2), 1091-1106; https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb46020069 - 24 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1804
Abstract
Wild teas are valuable genetic resources for studying evolution and breeding. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome of the ancient Korean tea ‘Hadong Cheon-nyeon Cha’ (C. sinensis var. sinensis), which is known as the oldest tea tree in Korea. This [...] Read more.
Wild teas are valuable genetic resources for studying evolution and breeding. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome of the ancient Korean tea ‘Hadong Cheon-nyeon Cha’ (C. sinensis var. sinensis), which is known as the oldest tea tree in Korea. This study determined seven Camellia sinensis var. sinenesis, including Hadong Cheon-nyeon Cha (HCNC) chloroplast genome sequences, using Illumina sequencing technology via de novo assembly. The chloroplast genome sizes ranged from 157,019 to 157,114 bp and were organized into quadripartite regions with the typical chloroplast genomes. Further, differences in SNPs and InDels were detected across the seven chloroplast genomes through variance analysis. Principal component and phylogenetic analysis suggested that regional constraints, rather than functional constraints, strongly affected the sequence evolution of the cp genomes in this study. These genomic resources provide evolutionary insight into Korean tea plant cultivars and lay the foundation for a better understanding of the ancient Korean tea plant HCNC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetics and Natural Bioactive Components in Beverage Plants)
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Review

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13 pages, 289 KiB  
Review
Coffee and Microbiota: A Narrative Review
by Federico Rosa, Benedetta Marigliano, Sergio Mannucci, Marcello Candelli, Gabriele Savioli, Giuseppe Merra, Maurizio Gabrielli, Antonio Gasbarrini, Francesco Franceschi and Andrea Piccioni
Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2024, 46(1), 896-908; https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb46010057 - 20 Jan 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 12130
Abstract
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, which has important repercussions on the health of the individual, mainly because of certain compounds it contains. Coffee consumption exerts significant influences on the entire body, including the gastrointestinal tract, where [...] Read more.
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, which has important repercussions on the health of the individual, mainly because of certain compounds it contains. Coffee consumption exerts significant influences on the entire body, including the gastrointestinal tract, where a central role is played by the gut microbiota. Dysbiosis in the gut microbiota is implicated in the occurrence of numerous diseases, and knowledge of the microbiota has proven to be of fundamental importance for the development of new therapeutic strategies. In this narrative review, we thoroughly investigated the link between coffee consumption and its effects on the gut microbiota and the ensuing consequences on human health. We have selected the most significant articles published on this very interesting link, with the aim of elucidating the latest evidence about the relationship between coffee consumption, its repercussions on the composition of the gut microbiota, and human health. Based on the various studies carried out in both humans and animal models, it has emerged that coffee consumption is associated with changes in the gut microbiota, although further research is needed to understand more about this link and the repercussions for the whole organism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetics and Natural Bioactive Components in Beverage Plants)
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