Figures (5)  Tables (2)
    • Figure 1. 

      The effects of different pruning treatments on the spring shoots and buds in the following year.

    • Figure 2. 

      The developmental stage of young tea shoots during the following spring after different pruning treatments. The early development of young tea shoots can be divided into five characteristic stages: sprouting, first fish leaf expansion, second fish leaf expansion, one leaf and one bud, as well as two leaves and one bud.

    • Figure 3. 

      The box plots of (a) stem diameter, (b) shoot length and (c) weight of 100 buds of young tea shoots in the following year after different pruning treatments. Stem diameter was measured in the middle of the third internode from the apical bud; shoot length refers to the length from the base of stem to the top of apical bud; weight of 100 buds was weighted at the stage of one bud and two leaves. All the parameters were measured at the stage of two leaves and one bud on March 22nd, 2021.

    • Figure 4. 

      The transcriptome profiles of the buds in the spring of following year after different pruning treatments. (a) PCA analysis, (b) DEG numbers, (c) significantly enriched KEGG pathways of DEGs. The number of replicates is three.

    • Figure 5. 

      The heatmaps of DEGs in the fresh tea leaves under different pruning treatments. (a) Plant–pathogen interaction, (b) plant hormone signal transduction, and (c) circadian rhythm.

    • Phytohormones*CKHP 4.15HP 5.8DP 5.8LP 5.8HP 5.8+LP 9.30HP 5.28
      ABA1,711.44 ± 42.13d4,566.48 ± 172.96bc4,999.26 ± 68.79b4,775.51 ± 160.84b4,084.18 ± 321.61c4,179.84 ± 119.90c6,106.79 ± 325.79a
      GA125.57 ± 1.57e43.56 ± 1.71d291.55 ± 10.69a79.52 ± 7.27c41.83 ± 5.69d115.95 ± 2.66b25.21 ± 3.20e
      GA320.86 ± 1.63e35.75 ± 1.54d206.08 ± 5.50a75.50 ± 4.34c24.65 ± 0.58e98.14 ± 1.14b19.89 ± 2.13e
      IAA68.24 ± 3.58e182.68 ± 13.87c649.69 ± 28.48a166.03 ± 5.40c201.34 ± 10.09c249.02 ± 4.70b123.56 ± 10.14d
      tZ96.59 ± 13.58e402.32 ± 20.41d2,886.62 ± 111.01a854.40 ± 40.79c202.24 ± 2.20e1,470.30 ± 62.10b65.58 ± 5.76e
      JA2,273.34 ± 255.23d6,399.88 ± 342.04a4,590.13 ± 191.45bc4,508.79 ± 126.17c5,220.94 ± 203.86b5,035.13 ± 47.06bc2,191.14 ± 136.94d
      tZR32.19 ± 5.46f547.40 ± 9.98d3,859.40 ± 275.33a1,253.42 ± 79.85c353.60 ± 21.47de1,811.79 ± 83.16b146.55 ± 6.70ef
      Melatonin37.22 ± 1.69f214.42 ± 3.56d294.47 ± 16.14c403.89±22.60b79.92 ± 3.34e516.89 ± 7.86a85.58 ± 1.43e
      * ABA: abscisic acid; GA1: gibberellin A1; GA3: gibberellin A3; IAA: indole-3-acetic acid; JA: jasmonic acid; tZR: trans-zeatin-riboside; tZ: trans-zeatin.
      Data with different alphabetic letters (a, b, c, d, e, f) in a same row were significantly different at p < 0.05.

      Table 1. 

      The contents of phytohormones in the fresh tea leaves the following spring after different pruning treatments (pg/g).

    • Compounds*CKHP 4.15HP 5.8DP 5.8LP 5.8HP 5.8+LP 9.30HP 5.28
      GC0.56 ± 0.01a0.48 ± 0.01c0.51 ± 0.01b0.46 ± 0.01d0.48 ± 0.01cd0.50 ± 0.01bc0.50 ± 0.00bc
      EGC1.58 ± 0.01a1.58 ± 0.01a1.59 ± 0.01a1.52 ± 0.00c1.55 ± 0.01b1.41 ± 0.00d1.59 ± 0.00a
      C0.86 ± 0.01ab0.89 ± 0.06a0.90 ± 0.01a0.80 ± 0.10ab0.88 ± 0.03ab0.75 ± 0.02b0.85 ± 0.03ab
      EC2.33 ± 0.00c2.66 ± 0.12b2.60 ± 0.00b3.56 ± 0.02a2.35 ± 0.01c2.17 ± 0.01d2.32 ± 0.00c
      EGCG32.55 ± 0.81c36.64 ± 0.81a35.03 ± 0.02b31.99 ± 0.15c32.85 ± 0.03c33.13 ± 0.02c32.73 ± 0.35c
      ECG13.83 ± 0.07c15.83 ± 0.57a15.07 ± 0.13b14.49 ± 0.12bc14.81 ± 0.04b13.86 ± 0.01c14.59 ± 0.20b
      CG0.54 ± 0.00a0.57 ± 0.09a0.55 ± 0.00a0.53 ± 0.00a0.52 ± 0.00a0.52 ± 0.00a0.59 ± 0.01a
      TC52.25 ± 0.87c58.25 ± 0.89a56.24 ± 0.13b53.35 ± 0.10c53.43 ± 0.03c52.35 ± 0.02c53.16 ± 0.30c
      * EC: (–)-epicatechin; EGC: (–)-epigallocatechin; ECG: (–)-epicatechin gallate; EGCG: (–)-epigallocatechin gallate; GC: (+)-gallocatechin; C: (+)-catechin; TC: Total catechins.
      Data with different alphabetic letters (a, b, c, d) in a same row were significantly different at p < 0.05.

      Table 2. 

      The contents of catechins in the buds of the following spring after different pruning treatments (mg/g dry weight).