Analysis of Shading Effect to Immature Tea Leaf

Abstract

Light is essential for plant photomorphogenesis and photosynthesis. Weak light intensity leads to an elongated hypocotyle and pale green cotyledon such as in Arabidopsis. In case of immature leaf of tea, light limitation by covered culture improves greening. While a shading rate of increase leads to enhancement of greening of immature leaf, it also leads to a reduction in yield of tea leaf. Although physiological analyses have been achieved for shading effects, mechanism of greening by covering culture has been remain to be elucidated. The present paper reports the results of not only physiological but also anatomical and molecular study of immature leaf of green tea with covering culture.