This study was aimed to identify high-quality and stress-resistant germplasm resources of subtropical tea for the purpose of supporting new variety breeding and the development of characteristic tea products. Leaves from 50 tea accessions cultivated at Tea Teaching and Research Base of Guangxi Vocational and Technical College in Nanning were selected as the samples. 17 leaf anatomical and structural traits were examined to assess the genetic diversity. Based on stress resistance, processing suitability, productivity potential of the traits were evaluated. Principal component analysis combined with hierarchical cluster analysis was employed for the comprehensive evaluation. There existed substantial genetic variation among the accessions, and the coefficient of variation ranged from 11.00% to 39.10%. The accessions demonstrated robust stress resistance with average membership function value for drought resistance and pest resistance 0.67 and 0.61, respectively, along with average cold resistance score 6.28. The average productivity index of 3329.20 suggested a relatively high productivity potential. Based on the leaf anatomical and structural indicators, the accessions were clustered into three distinct groups. The upper cuticle thickness, lower cuticle thickness, upper epidermis thickness, lower epidermis thickness, palisade tissue thickness, palisade tissue layer number, spongy tissue layer thickness, leaf thickness, and calcium oxalate crystal indexes of the Group 2 appeared to be significantly or highly significantly different than those of Group 1 and Group 3. Based on the top five principal component values and the corresponding eigenvalues of the accessions, a linear equation was established to calculate the comprehensive score of the principal components. The top 10 accessions exhibited superior overall characteristics, demonstrating strong potential for breeding elite tea cultivars. These findings would provide valuable references for identification and utilization of the superior local tea germplasm resources in Guangxi.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |