Corresponding Authors
Liping Gao − School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University,
Hefei, Anhui 230036, China; Phone: 86-551-65786232; Email:
gaolp@ahau.edu.cn,
gaolp62@126.com; Fax:
86-551-65785729
Tao Xia − State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization and
International Joint Laboratory on Tea Chemistry and Health Effects of
Ministry of Education, Anhui
Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui 230036, China;
orcid.org/0000-0002-3940-688X; Phone: 86-551-65786003; Email:
xiatao62@ahau.edu.cn, xiatao62@126.com; Fax:86-551-65785833
Funding:the Natural Science Foundation of China (31700608), the Natural
Science Foundation of Anhui Province (1708085MC58), the Natural Science
Foundation of China (32000366).
Abstract: Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) function as
molecular chaperones, which play crucial roles in plant growth,
development, and stress response. However, the function of thesHSP gene in the tea plant (Camellia sinensis L.) has not
been extensively investigated.
In
total, 54 C. Sinensis small heat shock proteins (CssHSPs) in the
tea plant genome were screened. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that
CssHSPs in the same group have similar conserved domains and motifs;
conversely, significant structural differences exist in the different
groups. Most CssHSP genes had tissue-specific expression. They
also responded to one or more abiotic or biotic stresses,CsHSP24.6 was selected for functional analysis. The results
demonstrated that the expression of CsHSP24.6 increased under
abiotic stresses such as temperature, light intensity, and NaCl. In
addition, under high temperature and high light intensity treatments,CsHSP24.6 and its target gene CspTAC5 interacted to
enhance the heat and light resistances of the plant. CsHSP24.6facilitates resistance to abiotic stresses in tea plants. These results
further support that CsHSP24.6 plays an essential role in
maintaining plant growth and development under abiotic stress.
Keywords: Tea plant, bioinformatics analysis, abiotic and
biotic stresses, CsHSP24.6.