Integrated physiological, transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of the response of Brassica napus L. to pruning residues from tea plant

In the process of tea garden management, the pruned tea plant branches usually return directly to the field, which may interfere adjacent plant growth and resource waste. Therefore, it is essential to properly manage and economically utilize pruned tea plant branches. This study was combined physiology, transcriptomics, and metabolomics to analyze the effects of uncomposted and composted tea plant branches (UT and CT, respectively) on seed germination and seedling growth of Brassica napus L. The results demonstrated that the phenolic chemicals (tea polyphenols and catechins) and alkaloid (caffeine) in CT were reduced by over 84.56-99.57% compared to UT. The CT extracts solution promoted seed germination and seedling growth, while the UT extracts solution had the opposite effect. Comprehensive transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses revealed that the primary pathways affected were phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction, and MAPK signal pathway - plant. These results showed that UT extracts solution may affect the B. napus L. growth by disrupting the plant hormonal balance and antioxidant system. These results of this study indicate that in situ aerobic composting is a plant-friendly method for converting pruned tea plant branches into organic fertilizer and provides a theoretical basis for the resource utilization of pruned tea plant branches.