Overview

Biyun tea plant belongs to clonal varieties, small tree wood type, middle class, mesophytic species. It was bred by the Tea Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences from the natural hybrid progenies of Pingyang population and Yunnan Daye tea. In 1987, the National Committee for the examination and approval of improved tea varieties was recognized as a national excellent variety.

The plant of Biyun tea plant is tall and upright, and its leaves are inclined. Spring buds germinate from late March to early April. In the middle of April, one bud and three leaves are in full bloom. The leaves are green and hairy. It is suitable for making famous green tea. Its characteristics are fine and tight, green in color, clear in aroma and fresh in taste.

Through the combination of SMRT and Hi-C, a highly continuous and accurate tea genome was generated for Biyun tea. Such a high-quality reference genome as the tea tree would be valuable to the broad tea research community, enabling researchers to not only accurately obtain functionally significant gene families but also determine agronomically important traits relevant to the improvement of tea quality and production.

Genomic information

Reference

Qun-Jie Zhanget al. Title : The Chromosome-Level Reference Genome of Tea Tree Unveils Recent Bursts of Non-autonomous LTR Retrotransposons in Driving Genome Size Evolution. Molecular Plant 13.7(2020).doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2020.04.009