Biosynthesis and Regulation of Tea Plant Specialized Metabolites

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 668

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Tea Biology and Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, National Center for Tea Improvement, Tea Research Institute Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (TRICAAS), Hangzhou 310008, China
Interests: tea plant; secondary metabolites; plant development; biosynthesis; gene function; gene regulation; genomics

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Guest Editor
Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Plantation and High Valued Utilization of Specialty Fruit Tree and Tea, Jiangxi Cash Crops Research Institute, Nanchang 330043, China
Interests: tea plant; secondary metabolites; tea quality; tea germplasm resources; tea cultivar; taste; aroma; metabolic regulation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is renowned for its unique flavor, aroma, and health-promoting properties, which are largely attributed to its diverse array of specialized metabolites such as catechins, theanine, caffeine, and volatile terpenoids. These compounds are either highly enriched or uniquely synthesized in tea plants, contributing to their economic and nutritional value. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the biosynthesis, regulation, and environmental responsiveness of such compounds remain incompletely understood.

In this forthcoming Special Issue, we aim to highlight recent advances in the study of tea-specific metabolic pathways. We welcome original research articles and comprehensive reviews that address the identification of biosynthetic genes, the characterization of key enzymes and transcription factors, regulatory networks involving hormones and stress signals, and the application of multi-omics, gene editing, and synthetic biology tools. This issue will serve as a platform on which fundamental discoveries may be integrated with practical strategies for improving tea quality, resilience, and the sustainable production of high-value phytochemicals.

Dr. Yongxin Wang
Dr. Zhihui Wang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • tea plant
  • catechins
  • theanine
  • caffeine
  • biosynthesis
  • gene regulation
  • gene function
  • multi-omics
  • tea quality

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 5837 KB  
Article
Metabolomics Reveals the Mechanism of Browning Inhibition by Transient Light Quality in Tea Plant Tissue Culture
by Yi Ding, Haitao Huang and Yun Zhao
Plants 2025, 14(22), 3539; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14223539 - 20 Nov 2025
Viewed by 543
Abstract
The absence of a high-efficiency and stable genetic transformation system has been a critical bottleneck, impeding both functional gene characterization and precision breeding efforts in Camellia sinensis (tea), and browning is the first problem encountered in tissue culture of tea. In this paper, [...] Read more.
The absence of a high-efficiency and stable genetic transformation system has been a critical bottleneck, impeding both functional gene characterization and precision breeding efforts in Camellia sinensis (tea), and browning is the first problem encountered in tissue culture of tea. In this paper, to identify optimal spectral conditions for minimizing browning in tissue culture, we subjected three tea plant cultivars to distinct light quality treatments and conducted comprehensive metabolomic profiling of their phytochemical contents. This study demonstrates that wavelength-specific light treatments can induce reversible modifications in the physicochemical characteristics of tea leaves, effectively reducing the accumulation of flavonoid compounds, including polyphenols, in plant tissues. Notably, tissues subjected to optimized wavelength conditions exhibit superior performance as explant sources for in vitro culture systems, demonstrating significantly lower browning rates. Comparative analysis of 460 nm, 660 nm, and 730 nm irradiation treatments revealed consistent suppression of polyphenol biosynthesis across all examined cultivars. However, the wavelength eliciting maximal reduction showed significant cultivar-dependent variation, indicating genotype-specific photoresponsive regulation of secondary metabolism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biosynthesis and Regulation of Tea Plant Specialized Metabolites)
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