Hangzhou is a lovely city with a distinctive and long-standing culture, with the tea culture
being the most recognizable. It is surrounded by the famous West Lake and Qiantang River.
The Southeast Asian monsoon and water vapor control of the rich water system influence
Hangzhou's climate, which is warm and humid with gentle winds and drizzles, morning clouds,
and evening fog. Tea trees thrive quite well in this particular microclimate. As a result, Hangzhou
was a renowned tea-producing region as early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
"Qiantang (tea) is produced at Tianzhu and Lingyin two temples,"
——Lu Yu The Book of Tea(780 A.D.).
While tea etiquette had developed into a system
from temples to the court and then to the common
people, tea shops were mushrooming up in the city
during the Southern Song Dynasty（1127-1279）.
During this time, Hangzhou was the capital of China
and the well-known Jingshan tea ritual was developed.
Since ancient times, Hangzhou has been recognized
for its tea production. For instance, Hangzhou
produced three of the 13 renowned Ming Dynasty tea
varieties. Currently, the top ten most well-known teas
in China are Xihu Longjing tea from the Xihu District,
Jingshan tea from Yuhang District, Fuchun minglv from
Fuyang District, and others. These well-known teas are
responsible for establishing the foundation of Hangzhou's
tea culture. Hangzhou tea's global influence is steadily
growing, and people throughout the world are coming
to adore it more and more.
However the tea is facing danger.
One of the principal pests of tea is the tea aphid.
The tea aphid has a wide host range, quick reproduction,
and overlapping generations in addition to the ability of
both adults and nymphs to consume tea juice. During the
growth season, parthenogenesis occurs continually and
is highly fertile. The aphids may produce one generation
in 5-7 days under the right circumstances, and they can
survive the winter by mating and laying eggs in the fall.
The tea aphid congregates as adults
and nymphs on the tea tree stalk and
the underside of the young leaves to
suck the tea tree juice, which causes
the new shoots, thin, curling buds, and
leaves to grow poorly. The tea aphid's
"honeydew" can lead to mold parasitism
and interfere with the photosynthesis
of the tea leaves. The quantity and
quality of tea will suffer if aphids are
used to produce dry tea together with
buds, leaves, and soup that is black
and faintly fishy.
Climate change and the evolution of insect resistance
make pest control increasingly difficult. Insects are rapidly
developing resistance to both insecticides and genetically
modified(GM) crops. Traditional pest control methods
are becoming neither effective nor eco-friendly.
In order to make the tea garden more organic and healthy,
our team use synthetic biology to combat tea aphids.
Prevention of tea aphids (Toxoptera aurantii) base on sex pheromone interference.
