Cysteine-rich polycomb-like (CPP) is a small gene family in plants, which plays key role in plant development and stress response. Although CPP transcription factors have been characterized in several other plant species, a genome-wide characterization of the CPP gene family has been absent in Camellia sinensis. In this study, we totally identified 7, 8, and 8 non-redundant CsCPP genes in three published genomes, including Camellia sinensis var. assamica cv. Yunkang-10 (CSA-YK10), Camellia sinensis var. sinensis cv. Biyun (CSS-BY) and Camellia sinensis var. sinensis cv. Shuchazao (CSS-SCZ). CPP proteins from tea tree and other plant species were classified into three groups, which were further divided into four subgroups based on phylogenetic relationships. Most CPP genes in the same subgroup had similar gene structures and conserved motifs. The cis-acting elements analysis indicated that CPP genes might be involved in plant growth, development and stress responses. Analysis of gene expression using qRT-PCR experiments validated that CPP genes exhibited different expression patterns across the examined tissues. All the genes were expressed differentially in a range of tissues, indicating that CPPs were involved in a range of developmental and physiological processes. This study has obtained new insights into the evolution and function of the CPP gene family in the growth and development of tea plants, and also provide candidate genes for further functional characterization in tea tree.

富含半胱氨酸的polycomb-like（CPP）是植物中的一个小基因家族，在植物发育和逆境响应中起关键作用。尽管CPP转录因子已在其他几种植物物种中得到表征，但CPP基因家族的全基因组特征在山茶中尚不存在。在这项研究中，我们在三个已发表的基因组中总共鉴定了 7、8 和 8 个非冗余CsCPP基因，包括Camellia sinensis var. 阿萨姆品种。Yunkang-10 ( CSA-YK10 ), Camellia sinensis var. 中华品种 碧云（CSS-BY）和山茶花变种。中华品种 书茶早（CSS-SCZ）。来自茶树和其他植物物种的 CPP 蛋白分为三组，根据系统发育关系进一步分为四个亚组。同一亚组中的大多数CPP基因具有相似的基因结构和保守的基序。该顺式作用元件分析表明，CPP基因可能在植物生长，发育和应激反应有关。使用 qRT-PCR 实验进行的基​​因表达分析证实了CPP基因在检查的组织中表现出不同的表达模式。所有基因在一系列组织中都有差异表达，表明CPPs参与了一系列发育和生理过程。本研究对CPP基因家族在茶树生长发育中的进化和功能有了新的认识，也为茶树的进一步功能表征提供了候选基因。