Screening of Tea (Camellia sinensis) for Trait-Associated Molecular Markers

Abstract

This study was done to identify random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers that may associate with seven important traits in tea. Sixty RAPD primers were first screened using 18 cultivars under each of the 7 traits, followed by confirmatory screening of 20 promising primers with 32 tea cultivars. Six RAPD primers generated a total of nine specific bands that associated with six desired traits: black tea quality and tolerance to drought, high temperature, low temperature, Phomopsis theae, and high yield. These markers would allow early identification of plant material with the desired traits that can be advanced to the next stage of selection and enhance targeted choice of breeding stocks with the desirable traits. The nine RAPD markers identified in this study could improve precision and efficiency in tea breeding and selection and are an important contribution towards the establishment of marker-assisted selection in tea breeding programmes.

SWAPDT: A method for Short-time Withering Assessment of Probability for Drought Tolerance in Camellia sinensis validated by targeted metabolomics

“…This differs from (Wang et al, 2012), explaining why PC153 has a low TPC. There is however no explanation as to why PC168 did not drop in TPC as this particular cultivar has been classified as tolerant from field studies over several years (Mphangwe et al, 2013). Although these studies serve to further confirm that TPC can be used as an indicator for drought tolerance in C. sinensis (Cheruiyot et al, 2007), it must be noted that TPC cannot be used to classify tea cultivars for drought tolerance when the plants are grown under shade, as shade has been documented to influence flavonoid biosynthesis.…”

Transcriptome-based identification of water-deficit stress responsive genes in the tea plant,Camellia sinensis

“…The advantage of this approach is that molecular markers are not influenced by environmental factors and the developmental stage of the plant and therefore can be selected for at any stage of the plants phenology and in any environment. They can also be used to screen for resistance to a stress condition in the absence of the stress factor (Mphangwe et al 2013). DNA-based molecular markers have been exploited in breeding programmes of various crops.…”

“…Initially, this approach was considered less applicable to tea because of the limited genetic information that was available in the public domain. Good progress has, however, been made on development of genetic linkage maps and identification of molecular markers associated with various agronomic traits (Hackett et al 2000;Mphangwe et al 2013) including work on quantitative trait loci associated with yield (Kamunya et al 2010) and genetic diversity of tea germplasm (Wachira et al 1995). However, the molecular markers that have been identified in tea this far are probably still too few considering the big tea genome and therefore necessitate more research work on molecular markers.…”