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Genetic improvement and breeding of tea plant (Camellia sinensis) in China: from individual selection to hybridization and molecular breeding

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Abstract

Tea is an important revenue source for the tea producing countries in the world, including China. China is the place of origin of tea plants, it has the broadest genetic variations in the world. It also has bred more than 200 improved cultivars. The improved cultivars have made important contribution in the tea industry. In this paper the achievements of tea genetic improvement and breeding, the current situation of collection, conservation, appraisal and evaluation of tea germplasms, the establishment and development of tea breeding system were reviewed. The main research emphases for the genetics and breeding of tea plant in the near future in China are proposed.

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Abbreviations

AFLP :

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism

ALPs :

Amplicon Length Polymorphisms

CAPS :

Cleaved Amplified Polymorphic Sequence

EST :

Expressed Sequence Tag

ISSR :

Inter Simple Sequence Repeat

RAPD :

Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA

RFLP :

Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism

SSR :

Simple Sequence Repeat

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in partial by the NSF of Zhejiang (Y305124) to Liang Chen. And the authors thank professor Fu-lian Yu in the TRICAAS, Dr. Zeno Apostolides in Tea Research Laboratory of University of Pretoria, South Africa and the anonymous reviewers for their critical preview and constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Tea Germplasm, Genetic Improvement and Molecular Biology, Tea Research Institute Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Key Laboratory of Tea Chemical Engineering of the Ministry of Agriculture, 1 Yunqi Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310008, China

    Liang Chen, Zhi-Xiu Zhou & Ya-Jun Yang

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  1. Liang Chen
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  2. Zhi-Xiu Zhou
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  3. Ya-Jun Yang
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Correspondence to Liang Chen or Ya-Jun Yang.

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Chen, L., Zhou, ZX. & Yang, YJ. Genetic improvement and breeding of tea plant (Camellia sinensis) in China: from individual selection to hybridization and molecular breeding. Euphytica 154, 239–248 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-006-9292-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-006-9292-3

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