Multiomics analysis of the mechanisms behind flavonoid differences between purple and green tender shoots of Camellia sinensis var. assamica

Flavonoids are rich in tea plants (Camellia sinensis), and responsible for the flavor and healthful benefits of tea beverage. The anthocyanin levels in the purple tender shoots are higher than in the general green leaves of tea plant, which provide special materials to search metabolic mechanisms of flavonoid enrichment in plant. In this work, flavonoid differences between purple and green shoots from tea cultivars “Zijuan” (ZJ) and “Yunkang10” (YK-10) were investigated through metabolomic analysis, and mechanisms for their difference were surveyed by comparative transcriptomic and proteomic analysis. Levels of 34 flavonoids were different between ZJ and YK-10 shoots. Among them, 8 and 6 were marker metabolites in ZJ and YK-10, respectively. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs), differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), and different-level metabolites (DLMs) between ZJ and YK-10 were researched, respectively; and interactions including DEG-DLM, DEP-DLM, DEG-DEP, and DEG-DEP-DLM were analyzed; the contents of 18 characteristic flavonoids in tea leaves and expressions of 34 flavonoid metabolic genes were measured to verify the omics results. Integrated above analyses, a proposed model of flavonoids biosynthesis in tea shoots were established. The differential expression of the leucoanthocyanidin reductase (LAR), anthocyanidin synthase (ANS), anthocyanidin reductase (ANR), UDPG-flavonoid glucosyltransferase (UGT) 75L12 and 94P1 at gene level, and the ANS, ANR, and UGT78A15 at protein level, were closely associated with differences in flavonoids between ZJ and YK-10 shoot. Together, this study provides new information on the flavonoid accumulation mechanism in tea plant.