ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Biotechnology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1612606
Study on the function of TTG1 gene in Camellia oleifera
Provisionally accepted
- 1Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China
- 2College of Food Science and Engineering, Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong, Shanxi Province, China
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Camellia oleifera is an economically important woody oil crop in China, where seed oil quality and yield are critical determinants of commercial value. Although the WD40-repeat transcription factor TTG1 is known to regulate plant secondary metabolism and development, its specific functions in C. oleifera remain uncharacterized. In this study, we isolated the CoTTG1 gene from C. oleifera, which encodes a nuclear-localized protein (molecular weight 38.38 kDa, pI 5.0) sharing 99.71% sequence identity with Camellia japonica TTG1. Heterologous expression resulted in: (1) significantly increased leaf trichome density (up to 114 trichomes/50 mm²); (2) enhanced seed anthocyanin accumulation (199-318% increase); and (3) substantial alterations in fatty acid composition, including 79% elevation in oleic acid (C18:1), 113% increase in gondoic acid (C20:1), 35% reduction in both linolenic (C18:3) and palmitic acids (C16:0), and 87% decrease in erucic acid (C22:1). Molecular analyses revealed that CoTTG1 mediates these phenotypic changes through upregulation of trichome development-related genes (AtETC1, AtGL1, AtCPC), anthocyanin biosynthesis genes (AtF3'H, AtLDOX, AtUFGT), and lipid metabolism genes (AtLACS8, AtSAD).These findings demonstrate the pleiotropic regulatory roles of CoTTG1 in controlling key agronomic traits, establishing it as a valuable molecular target for genetic improvement of C. oleifera.Camellia oleifera Abel. is an evergreen shrub or small tree that thrives in subtropical regions.The tea oil obtained from its seeds is popular because of its high nutritional content and medicinal value (Gao et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2015). As an important oil crop, C. oleifera has gained high reputation and has been widely planted in many countries, including China, the Philippines, India, Brazil, and South Korea, demonstrating its significant global impact and economic value (Lee and Yen, 2006; Wang et al., 2013). Tea oil, known as "Oriental olive oil", is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids that are beneficial to human health
Keywords: Camellia oleifera, TTG1, trichomes, Anthocyanins, Fatty Acids
Received: 16 Apr 2025; Accepted: 22 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xiang, Xiao, Tao, Cao, Yuan, Wang and Jiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yao Jiang, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, China
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