http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0324/c90000-20292964.html

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02135-z

Scientists from multiple agricultural science academies in China over a period of five years have collected 1,325 tea tree germplasm resources from 14 major tea-producing countries worldwide. Using genome-wide association studies, researchers identified thousands of substantial associations related to leaf shape and metabolite traits — pinpointing candidate genes for crucial agronomic and flavor attributes.

Through deep whole-genome resequencing of the samples, a comprehensive genome-wide genetic variation map was constructed. The study identified advantageous genes and harmful mutation loci in tea traits helpful for future breeding of new tea varieties with better flavor, stronger resistance and wider adaptability.