Integration of semi-in vivo assays and multi-omics data reveals the effect of galloylated catechins on self-pollen tube inhibition in Camellia oleifera

Abstract

Camellia oil extracted from the seeds of Camellia oleifera Abel. is a popular and high-quality edible oil, but its yield is limited by seed setting, which is mainly caused by self-incompatibility (SI). One of the obvious biological features of SI plants is the inhibition of self-pollen tubes; however, the underlying mechanism of this inhibition in C. oleifera is poorly understood. In this study, we constructed a semi- in vivo pollen tube growth test (SIV-PGT) system that can screen for substances that inhibit self-pollen tubes without interference from the genetic background. Combined with multi-omics analysis, the results revealed the important role of galloylated catechins in self-pollen tube inhibition, and a possible molecular regulatory network mediated by UDP-glycosyltransferase ( UGT) and serine carboxypeptidase-like ( SCPL) was proposed. In summary, galloylation of catechins and high levels of galloylated catechins are specifically involved in pollen tube inhibition under self-pollination rather than cross-pollination, which provides a new understanding of SI in C. oleifera. These results will contribute to sexual reproduction research on C. oleifera and provide theoretical support for improving Camellia oil yield in production.

Acknowledgement

Our work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFD1000603-1), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2020JJ5968), Scientific Research Foundation for Advanced Talents of Central South University of Forestry and Technology (2018YJ002), Special Funds for the Construction of Innovative Provinces in Hunan (2021NK1007) and the Key Program of Education Department of Hunan Province (grant no. 20A524). We thank Dr. Yajun Liu for assistance with the galloylated catechin biosynthesis analysis.

Author contributions

Y.C., W.G., and D.Y. designed the experiment; Y.C., J.X., and H.G. carried out the experiment; Q.S. participated in the multi-omics data analysis; Y.C. wrote the manuscript; W.G. and S.X revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Data availability

Metabolomics data have been deposited to the EMBL-EBI MetaboLights database with the identifier MTBLS5346. The mass spectrometry proteomics data have been deposited to the proteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD035406.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest associated with this work.

Supplementary data

Supplementary data is available at Horticulture Research Journal online.

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