Quantitative Succinyl-Proteome Profiling of Camellia sinensis cv. ‘Anji Baicha’ During Periodic Albinism

Lysine succinylation is a novel dynamic and evolutionarily conserved post-translational modification (PTM) that regulates various biological processes. ‘Anji Baicha’ is an albino tea variety that exhibits temperature-based variability of leaf colour and amino acid concentrations. However, the mechanism underlying albinism in ‘Anji Baicha’ has not been investigated at the level of succinylation. Here, we identify 3530 lysine succinylation sites mapped to 2132 proteins in ‘Anji Baicha’, representing the first extensive data on the lysine succinylome in the tea plant. Eleven conserved succinylation motifs were enriched among the identified succinylated peptides. The protein-protein interaction maps were visualized using Cytoscape software. Comparison across three typical developmental stages of ‘Anji Baicha’ revealed that proteins exhibiting differential succinylation levels were primarily involved in photosynthesis, carbon fixation, biosynthesis of amino acids and porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, suggesting that these succinylated proteins are involved in ‘Anji Baicha’ leaf colour variability. These results not only deepen our understanding of the mechanism underlying ‘Anji Baicha’ albinism and the regulatory role of succinylation in the tea plant but also provide new insight into molecular breeding for leaf colour variety.