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Brassinosteroid Potentiates Cold-Induced Transcriptome-Metabolome Reprogramming in Tea Plant Leaves: An Integrated
Wenli Wang1,2, Keyin Shen1,2, Jingbo Yu1,2
1Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310008, China.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
|May 13, 2026
Summary
Brassinosteroid (BR) signaling enhances cold acclimation in tea plants by modulating phenylpropanoid metabolism and hormone pathways. This study identifies key genes and metabolites for improving tea
Area of Science:
- Plant Science
- Molecular Biology
- Agricultural Science
Background:
- Low temperatures limit tea plant (Camellia sinensis) growth and yield.
- The role of brassinosteroid (BR) signaling in cold acclimation is not fully understood at a systems level.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how BR signaling influences cold acclimation in tea plants.
- To delineate BR-potentiated cold responses using integrated multi-omics approaches.
Main Methods:
- Transcriptomic and UHPLC-MS metabolomic profiling of tea leaves under control, 24-epibrassinolide (EBR), cold, and combined cold + EBR treatments.
- Principal component analysis (PCA) for data visualization and clustering.
- Functional enrichment analysis and integrative TF-metabolite-gene correlation network construction.
Main Results:
- Cold stress significantly reprogrammed gene expression and metabolite accumulation.
- BR signaling, particularly under cold conditions, further modulated cold-responsive networks.
- Phenylpropanoid metabolism and hormone signal transduction were identified as core responsive modules.
- Flavonoids, including anthocyanins and flavonol glycosides, were the dominant responsive metabolites.
- WRKY transcription factors and a UDP-glycosyltransferase were prioritized as candidate hub genes.
Conclusions:
- Brassinosteroid signaling plays a crucial role in potentiating cold acclimation in tea plants.
- Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic data reveal co-regulated modules linking hormone signaling to phenylpropanoid biosynthesis.
- Identified candidate genes provide a foundation for improving cold resilience in tea production.
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