Integrating transcriptome and metabolome to explore the growth-promoting mechanisms of GABA in blueberry plantlets.

Tissue culture technology is the main method for the commercial propagation of blueberry plants, but blueberry plantlets grow slowly and have long growth cycles under propagation, resulting in low propagation efficiency. In addition, the long culturing time can also result in reduced nutrient content in the culture medium, and the accumulation of toxic and harmful substances that can lead to weak growth for the plantlets or browning and vitrification, which ultimately can seriously reduce the quality of the plantlets. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a four-carbon non-protein amino acid that can improve plant resistance to various stresses and promote plant growth, but the effects of its application and mechanism in tissue culture are still unclear.