MetaboLightsapplication/xmlftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/m_MTBLS15257_LC-MS_positive_reverse-phase_v2_maf.tsvftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/m_MTBLS15257_LC-MS_negative_reverse-phase_v2_maf.tsvftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/s_MTBLS15257.txtftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/i_Investigation.txtftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/a_MTBLS15257_LC-MS_negative_reverse-phase.txtftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/a_MTBLS15257_LC-MS_positive_reverse-phase.txtftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/AR-3_N.mzMLftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/AR-1_N.mzMLftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/AR-2_N.mzMLftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/SR-3_N.mzMLftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/SR-2_N.mzMLftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/SR-1_N.mzMLftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/AR-3_P.mzMLftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/AR-1_P.mzMLftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/AR-2_P.mzMLftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/SR-3_P.mzMLftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/SR-2_P.mzMLftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257/FILES/DERIVED_FILES/SR-1_P.mzMLprimaryOK200ftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/pub/databases/metabolights/studies/public/MTBLS15257<p>Metabolites were identified based on MS/MS spectral matching against the MWDB (Metware Database) and public databases. Identification was performed by comparing precursor ions, fragment ions, retention times, and spectral information, and annotated metabolites were further used for downstream analysis.</p>MetaboLightsPublicLiquid Chromatography MS - negative - reverse-phaseLiquid Chromatography MS - positive - reverse-phase<p>Chromatographic separation was performed using a SCIEX ExionLC AD ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography system equipped with an ACQUITY UPLC HSS T3 C18 column. The mobile phases consisted of water containing appropriate additives and acetonitrile, and gradient elution was performed under controlled flow-rate, column-temperature, and injection-volume conditions.</p>Sexual Propagation Enhances Tea Quality Through Rhizosphere Microbiome Assembly and Metabolic Reprogramming in Camellia sinensis.Duo KeaiPeking UniversityYoung leavesmass spectrometry assay<p>Metabolites were extracted from freeze-dried tea leaf samples using a methanol-based extraction method. Samples were homogenized, extracted with methanol containing internal standards, centrifuged, and the supernatants were collected for LC-MS/MS analysis.</p>Camellia sinensishttps://www.ebi.ac.uk/metabolights/MTBLS15257Luo-fa Wu. Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Science. Wlfjx001@163.com.Yu-xiang Zhang. Jiangxi Agricultural University. keaiduoduo998@126.com.<p>Raw LC-MS/MS data were processed using the metabolomics data processing workflow provided by Metware. Data preprocessing included peak extraction, peak alignment, noise filtering, and normalization to generate processed metabolite abundance data for subsequent statistical analysis.</p>Groupkeaiduoduo998@126.com<p>Fresh tea leaves of Camellia sinensis were collected from plants under different propagation methods. Three biological replicates were collected for each treatment, immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen, and stored at 80°C until metabolomic analysis.</p>Metabolomicstea qualityMetabolomicsCamellia sinensispropagation methoduntargeted analysisPlant leaf tissueYoung leavesAgilent 1290 Infinity UPLC systemmicrobiomeAB SCIEX TripleTOF 6600tea qualityMetabolomicsCamellia sinensispropagation methoduntargeted analysisPlant leaf tissueYoung leavesAgilent 1290 Infinity UPLC systemmicrobiomeAB SCIEX TripleTOF 6600<p>Mass spectrometric analysis was performed using a SCIEX mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source. Metabolites were detected in positive and negative ion modes using multiple reaction monitoring, and instrument parameters were optimized for individual ion transitions to obtain reliable qualitative and quantitative data.</p>falseSexual Propagation Enhances Tea Quality Through Rhizosphere Microbiome Assembly and Metabolic Reprogramming in Camellia sinensisTea quality is primarily determined by the accumulation of specialized metabolites in fresh leaves; however, the mechanisms by which propagation methods influence tea qual-ity through plant–soil–microbiome interactions remain poorly understood. Here, sexually propagated (SR) and asexually propagated (AR) tea plants were comparatively investi-gated by integrating soil physicochemical analyses, leaf physiological assessments, wide-ly targeted metabolomics, and rhizosphere metagenomic profiling. Compared with AR, SR significantly improved soil nutrient availability, characterized by higher soil organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus contents, and promoted the accumulation of key quali-ty-related components, including tea polyphenols and soluble sugars. In particular, tea polyphenol content increased by 58.8%, while available phosphorus increased by 161.5% under SR conditions. SR also exhibited enhanced antioxidant capacity, as evidenced by elevated superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and indole-3-acetic acid oxidase activities while maintaining hydrogen peroxide homeostasis. Metabolomic analysis revealed dis-tinct metabolic reprogramming between propagation types, with differential metabolites significantly enriched in flavonoid biosynthesis, phenolic acid metabolism, caffeine me-tabolism, and α-linolenic acid metabolism pathways. Concurrently, metagenomic analyses demonstrated that SR reshaped rhizosphere microbial communities by enriching Actino-mycetota, Pseudomonadota, and Planctomycetota and altering microbial functional pro-files associated with central carbon metabolism, including glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Integrated microbiome–metabolome analyses further revealed significant asso-ciations between several SR-enriched microbial taxa and quality-related metabolites, par-ticularly flavonoids and phenolic acids. These correlations indicate coordinated variation between rhizosphere microbial composition and leaf metabolic profiles but do not estab-lish a directional or causal relationship.strong positive associations between SR-enriched microbial taxa and quality-related metabolites, particularly flavonoids and phenolic acids, suggesting a close coupling between rhizosphere microbial functions and leaf metabolic reprogramming. Collectively, our findings indicate that propagation strategy is associated with coordinated changes in soil nutrient availability, rhizosphere microbial car-bon-cycling functions, plant physiological regulation, and metabolite accumulation. Alt-hough these findings support a close association between propagation strategy and tea quality-related traits, they do not establish direct causal relationships.demonstrate that propagation method acts as an important driver of tea quality formation by coordinating soil nutrient availability, rhizosphere microbial carbon-cycling functions, plant physio-logical regulation, and metabolite accumulation. These multi-omics associations support a Soil–Microbiome–Metabolome framework for interpreting propagation-related variation in tea quality. However, the present comparative design and correlation analyses do not es-tablish direct causal relationships among these components.This study provides mul-ti-omics evidence for a soil–microbiota–metabolome coupling mechanism underlying propagation method-dependent tea quality formation and highlights the potential of sex-ual propagation as a strategy for producing high-quality tea.2026-08-052026-08-05MTBLS15257