Author:
Pokharel Sabin Saurav,Zhong Yanni,Changning Lv,Shen Fangyuan,Likun Li,Parajulee Megha N.,Fang Wanping,Chen Fajun
Abstract
Abstract
Background
The tea aphid, Toxoptera aurantii (Boyer de Fonscolombe) is a polyphagous pest predominant in tea orchards and has become the most pernicious pest deteriorating tea quality. Nitrogen (N) is essential to plant growth improvement, and it can significantly impact plant defensive ability against aphid infestation. This study was designed to quantify the influence of reduced N-fertilizer application on foliar chemicals and functional quality parameters of tea plants against the infestation of T. aurantii. In this study, the tea seedlings (cv. Longjing43) were applied with normal level (NL) of N-fertilizer (240 kg N ha−1) along with reduced N-fertilizer levels (70%NL and 50%NL), and with and without T. aurantii infestation.
Results
The results showed that N-fertilizer application significantly affected plant biomass and photosynthetic indexes, foliar soluble nutrients and polyphenols, tea catechins, caffeine, essential amino acids, volatile organic compounds of tea seedlings, and the population dynamics of T. aurantii. Compared with the normal N-fertilizer level, the reduced N-fertilizer application (70%NL and 50%NL) significantly decreased all the foliar functional quality components of tea seedlings without aphid infestation, while these components were increased in tea seedlings with aphid infestation. Moreover, the transcript expression levels of foliar functional genes (including CsTCS, CsTs1, and CsGT1) were significantly higher in the NL, and significantly lower in the 50%NL for tea seedlings without aphid infestation, while the transcript expression levels were significantly higher in 50%NL in aphid inoculated tea seedlings.
Conclusion
The results demonstrated that the reduced N-fertilizer application could enhance foliar chemicals and functional quality parameters of tea plants especially with T. aurantii infestation, which can relieve soil nitrogen pressure and reduce pesticide use for control of tea aphid infestation in tea plantations.
Funder
Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions
National Natural Science Foundation of China-China Academy of General Technology Joint Fund for Basic Research
National Key Research and Development Program of China
The Chinese Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA
The Jiangsu Agriculture Science and Technology Innovation Fund of China
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Qinglan Project of Jiangsu Province of China
National Student Research Training (SRT) Program
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
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