Morphological characterization, physiological characterization and related gene expression levels of CsEXL3-silencing tea plant. (A) Representative pictures of CsEXL3-silencing tea plant. Blank, blank control. 28nBL, control group. CsEXL3 AS, experimental group for silencing CsEXL3 expression. CsEXL3 S, negative control. Scale bar represents 1 cm. (B) The ratio of PDD/FL of CsEXL3-silencing tea plant. (C) Blade angle of CsEXL3-silencing tea plant. (D) Relative expression level of CsEXL3 in CsEXL3-silencing tea plant. (E) Lignin staining on cross-sections of the middle part in leaf blades midrib of CsEXL3-silencing tea plant with phloroglucinol-HCl. Scale bar represents 100 μm. Pictures of vascular tissue with maximum length were shown as blank arrow indicated. Red vertical line indicated the maximum length. Shorter scale bar represents 10 μm. (F) Maximum length of vascular tissue in CsEXL3-silencing tea plant. For (B) and (C), values are means ± SD of six biological replicates. For (D) and (F), values are means ± SD of four biological replicates. Statistical analysis was performed with ANOVA. Bars with different letters indicate significant difference (P < 0.05).