Camellia oleifera Abel. is one of the world’s four famous woody oil trees and has drawn increasing attention because of its high commercial value. Endophytes are microorganisms inhabiting inside plant tissues, and their functions vary with the change of host status and environmental parameters. To deepen our understanding of the interactions between C. oleifera and their endophytic actinobacteria, the present study investigated the four endophytic actinobacterial composition-residing high-yield C. oleifera trees. A total of 156 endophytic actinobacterial isolates were obtained distributed in 17 genera. Among them, Streptomyces was the dominant endophytic actinobacteria, followed by Nocardia, Amycolatopsis, Microbiospora, Micromonospora and other rare actinobacteria genera. Soil characteristics including soil pH and organic matter were found to play crucial roles in shaping the endophytic actinobacterial community composition. Furthermore, all isolates were studied to determine their plant growth-promotion traits, 86.54% could produce Indole 3-Acetic Acid, 16.03% showed nitrogen-fixing, 21.15% showed phosphorus solubilizing, and 35.26% produced siderophore. Under the glasshouse condition, some isolates exhibited growth promotion effects on C. oleifera seedlings with significant increase in spring shoot length and ground diameter. Altogether, this study demonstrated that C. oleifera plants harbored a high diversity and novelty of culturable endophytic actinobacteria, which represent important potential as natural biofertilizers for the high production of C. oleifera.

This study investigated the effects of nitrogen form on root activity and nitrogen uptake kinetics of Camellia oleifera Abel. seedlings, providing a scientific basis for improving nitrogen use efficiency and scientific fertilization in C. oleifera production. Taking one-year-old C. oleifera cultivar ‘Xianglin 27’ seedlings as subjects, 8 mmol·L⁻¹ of nitrogen in varied forms (${\mathrm{NO}}_3^{-}$:${\mathrm{NH}}_4^{+}$ = 0:0, 10:0, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7, 0:10) was applied in this study as the treatment conditions to investigate the effects of different nitrogen forms on root activity and nitrogen uptake kinetics in C. oleifera seedlings. Comparing the performance of nutrient solutions with different ${\mathrm{NO}}_3^{-}$:${\mathrm{NH}}_4^{+}$ ratios, the results showed that a mixed nitrogen source improved the root activity of C. oleifera seedlings based on total absorption area, active absorption area, active absorption area ratio, specific surface area, and active specific surface area. When ${\mathrm{NO}}_3^{-}$:${\mathrm{NH}}_4^{+}$ = 5:5, the total absorption area and active absorption area of the seedling roots reached the maximum. The results of uptake kinetic parameters showed that Vmax ${\mathrm{NH}}_4^{+}$ > Vmax ${\mathrm{NO}}_3^{-}$ and Km ${\mathrm{NO}}_3^{-}$ > Km ${\mathrm{NH}}_4^{+}$, indicating that the uptake potential of ammonium–nitrogen by C. oleifera seedlings is greater than that of nitrate–nitrogen. The conclusion was that compared to either ammonium– or nitrate–nitrogen, the mixed nitrogen source was better for promoting the root activity of C. oleifera seedlings, and the best nitrate/ammonium ratio was 5:5.

Seed germination is a critical phase in the plant lifecycle of Camellia oleifera (oil tea), directly influencing seedling establishment and crop reproduction. In this study, we examined transcriptomic and physiological changes across five defined germination stages (G0–G4), from radicle dormancy to cotyledon emergence. Using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), we assembled 169,652 unigenes and identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at each stage compared to G0, increasing from 1708 in G1 to 10,250 in G4. Functional enrichment analysis revealed upregulation of genes associated with cell wall organization, glucan metabolism, and Photosystem II assembly. Key genes involved in cell wall remodeling, including cellulose synthase (CESA), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL), caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferase (COMT), and peroxidase (POD) showed progressive activation during germination. A Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed dynamic regulation of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis, photosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, and hormone signaling pathways. Transcription factors such as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), ABA-responsive element binding factor (ABF), and basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) were upregulated, suggesting hormone-mediated regulation of dormancy release and seedling development. Physiologically, cytokinin (CTK) and IAA levels peaked in G4, antioxidant enzyme activities were highest in G2, and starch content increased toward later stages. These findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying seed germination in C. oleifera and identify candidate genes relevant to rootstock breeding and nursery propagation.

Drought stress is a critical environmental factor that significantly impacts plant growth and productivity. However, the transcriptome analysis of differentially expressed genes in response to drought stress in Camellia oleifera Abel. is still unclear. This study analyzed the transcriptome sequencing data of C. oleifera under drought treatments. A total of 20,674 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified under drought stress, with the number of DEGs increasing with the duration of drought. Specifically, 11,793 and 18,046 DEGs were detected after 8 and 15 days of drought treatment, respectively, including numerous upregulated and downregulated genes. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis showed that the DEGs were primarily involved in various biological processes. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis revealed that carbon metabolism, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, proteasome, glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism were the main affected pathways. Among the DEGs, 376 protein kinases, 42 proteases, 168 transcription factor (TF) genes, and 152 other potential functional genes were identified, which may play significant roles in the drought response of C. oleifera. The expression of relevant functional genes was further validated using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). These findings contribute to the comprehension of drought tolerance mechanisms in C. oleifera and bolster the identification of drought-resistant genes for molecular breeding purposes.

Ploidy identification is a basic method for determining germplasm resources and for breeding new varieties of oil-seed camellia. In this study, flow cytometry and K-mer analysis were used to identify the ploidy of oil-seed camellia germplasms. To determine the best tissue organ type, lysis time, and dyeing time, evaluation indices such as the presence of a clear main peak, the ease of sampling, and the coefficient of variation were used. A technique was established, and the ploidies of different oil-seed camellia germplasms were identified. The results showed that pollen was the best material and that using a 400 mL PI lysis solution for 10 min lysis, followed by dyeing with a 1600 mL DAPI dyeing solution for 10 min, was the most suitable technique. According to the peak value of the control diploid Camellia azalea, 15 samples were estimated to be diploid, 24 samples were tetraploid, 18 samples were hexaploid, and 13 samples were octoploid. In addition, the K-mer analysis results showed that among the five samples, CK, C051, and C047 were diploid, while C037 and C043 were tetraploid, results that are consistent with the results of the flow cytometry identification. This study is therefore valuable for the polyploid selection and use of different ploidy germplasm resources for the cross breeding of oil-seed camellia.