Open Access

REVIEW

Do Strigolactones Regulate Bud Winter Dormancy and Charactrisitc Secondary Metabolism in Tea?

Lin Feng¹, Ziming Gong^1,*, Guofeng Liu², Yanli Liu¹
1 Institute of Fruit and Tea, Hubei Academy of Agricultural Science/Hubei Tea Engineering and Technology Research Centre, Wuhan, 430064, China
2 College of Life Sciences, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang, 464000, China
* Corresponding Author: Ziming Gong. Email:
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Plant Secondary Metabolites: Recent Advances and Opportunities)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2021, 90(1), 65-73. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2020.012303

Received 24 June 2020; Accepted 21 August 2020; Issue published 20 November 2020

Abstract

Tea (Camellia sinensis [L.] O. Kuntze.) is an important cash crop, which mainly uses tender shoots and young leaves for manufacturing. Due to the marketing characteristic that earlier made tea has higher price, the time of the breaking of winter dormancy buds in spring is extremely important in tea industry. Strigolactones are a group of carotenoids-derived metabolites which regulates bud outgrowth, shoot branching, tiller angle and environmental stress responses. The role of strigolactones in tea plant was briefly summarized in the current review, with an emphasis of the association of strigolactones on bud ecodormancy and shoot branching. The involvement of strigolactones on the biosynthesis of the tea characteristic metabolites flavonoids, caffeine and theanine were also discussed. Moreover, recent advances on the biosynthesis of strigolactones and its regulation by microRNAs and environmental stresses were also presented. This review provides a basis for future investigations underlying the mechanisms of strigolactones on bud winter dormancy and tea secondary metabolism.

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Keywords

Camellia sinensis; strigolactones; winter dormancy; secondary metabolites

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