| Acknowledgement | 第1-10页 |
| Table of contents | 第10-12页 |
| List of Abbreviation | 第12-14页 |
| List of Tables | 第14-15页 |
| List of Figures | 第15-16页 |
| List of Appendix | 第16-17页 |
| Abstract | 第17-20页 |
| Abstract (in Chinese) | 第20-23页 |
| ·(CHAPTER-I) A general introduction and importance of carotenoids research for the improvement of the crop Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze | 第23-35页 |
| ·General introduction | 第24-29页 |
| ·Justification | 第29-30页 |
| ·Objective of the study | 第30-35页 |
| ·(CHAPTER-II) Progress in carotenoids research and its significance for the tea improvement program | 第35-51页 |
| ·The carotenoids biosynthetic pathway | 第36-38页 |
| ·Aromatic carotenoids cleavage products | 第38-39页 |
| ·Recent advances in carotenoids research: regulation and manipulation | 第39-42页 |
| ·Regulation | 第39-41页 |
| ·Manipulation | 第41-42页 |
| ·Future prospect | 第42-43页 |
| ·Relevance to tea research | 第43-51页 |
| ·(CHAPTER-III) Seasonal variation of total carotenoids, xanthophylls and β-carotene contents in elite tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) 0. Kuntze] cultivars grown in China | 第51-70页 |
| ·Introduction | 第52-54页 |
| ·Materials and Methods | 第54-57页 |
| ·Plant material | 第54-55页 |
| ·Extraction of total carotenoids | 第55页 |
| ·Extraction by chloroform | 第55页 |
| ·Extraction by methanol-acetone-diethyl ether | 第55页 |
| ·Estimation of total carotenoids | 第55-56页 |
| ·HPLC analysis of carotenoids | 第56页 |
| ·HPLC analysis of catechins | 第56页 |
| ·GC-MS analysis of VFC | 第56-57页 |
| ·Data analysis and statistics | 第57页 |
| ·Results | 第57-62页 |
| ·Effect of solvents on extraction of carotenoids | 第57-58页 |
| ·Cultivar and seasonal variation in total carotenoids | 第58-61页 |
| ·Cultivar and seasonal variations in β-carotene and xanthophylls | 第61页 |
| ·Variation of VFC in various cultivars | 第61-62页 |
| ·Concentration of catechins in various tea cultivars | 第62页 |
| ·Discussion | 第62-70页 |
| ·(CHAPER-IV) Carotenoids accumulation and its relation to the expression of carotenogenic genes in different harvesting season of tea [Camellia sinensis L. (0.) Kuntze.] | 第70-87页 |
| ·Introduction | 第72-74页 |
| ·Materials and Methods | 第74-77页 |
| ·Plant material | 第74页 |
| ·Extraction of pigments and HPLC analysis | 第74-75页 |
| ·RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis and gene expression study | 第75-77页 |
| ·Data analysis and statistics | 第77页 |
| ·Results and Discussion | 第77-82页 |
| ·Accumulation of carotenoids 55. | 第77-78页 |
| ·Expression profile of the carotenogenic genes | 第78-82页 |
| 4. 3.2.1. Expression pattern of the PSY gene | 第78-79页 |
| ·Expression pattern of PDS gene | 第79-80页 |
| ·Expression pattern of VDE gene | 第80-82页 |
| ·Conclusion | 第82-87页 |
| ·(CHAPTER-V) Carotenoids accumulation, expression pattern of carotenogenic genes and ultra-structural changes in the albino mutant of tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) O.Kuntze.] | 第87-100页 |
| ·Introduction | 第88-89页 |
| ·Materials and Methods | 第89-92页 |
| ·Plant materials | 第89-90页 |
| ·Extraction of carotenoids and HPLC analysis | 第90页 |
| ·Extraction and identification of phytoene | 第90-91页 |
| ·RNA extraction and synthesis of cDNA | 第91-92页 |
| ·Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) | 第92页 |
| ·Results and Discussion | 第92-96页 |
| ·Accumulation of carotenoids | 第92-93页 |
| ·Accumulation of phytoene in the albino mutant | 第93-94页 |
| ·Expression analysis of the carotenogenic genes | 第94-95页 |
| ·Electron microscopy study | 第95-96页 |
| ·Conclusion | 第96-100页 |
| ·(CHAPTER-VI) cDNA cloning and characterization of phytoene synthase (PSY) gene of tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze] | 第100-107页 |
| ·Introduction | 第101页 |
| ·Materials and Methods | 第101-102页 |
| ·Cloning of full-length cDNA of PSY gene by RACE | 第101-102页 |
| ·Construction of phylogenetic tree | 第102页 |
| ·Result and Discussion | 第102-107页 |
| ·Appendix | 第107-112页 |
