title: The rubber tree genome reveals new insights into rubber production and species adaptation.
abstract: The Para rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) is an economically important tropical tree species that produces natural rubber, an essential industrial raw material. Here we present a high-quality genome assembly of this species (1.37 Gb, scaffold N50 = 1.28 Mb) that covers 93.8% of the genome (1.47 Gb) and harbours 43,792 predicted protein-coding genes. A striking expansion of the REF/SRPP (rubber elongation factor/small rubber particle protein) gene family and its divergence into several laticifer-specific isoforms seem crucial for rubber biosynthesis. The REF/SRPP family has isoforms with sizes similar to or larger than SRPP1 (204 amino acids) in 17 other plants examined, but no isoforms with similar sizes to REF1 (138 amino acids), the predominant molecular variant. A pivotal point in Hevea evolution was the emergence of REF1, which is located on the surface of large rubber particles that account for 93% of rubber in the latex (despite constituting only 6% of total rubber particles, large and small). The stringent control of ethylene synthesis under active ethylene signalling and response in laticifers resolves a longstanding mystery of ethylene stimulation in rubber production. Our study, which includes the re-sequencing of five other Hevea cultivars and extensive RNA-seq data, provides a valuable resource for functional genomics and tools for breeding elite Hevea cultivars.
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Chaorong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Yongjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Yingfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Shenghan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Zewei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.|College of Agronomy, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
authors.forename: Binhui
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Core Genomic Facility, Beijing Institute of Genomics, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xinyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Bukit Bandar Raya, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Hoong-Yeet
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1916-8415
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Yeang
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Yunxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Jianghua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hailiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.affiliation: CIRAD, UMR AGAP, F-34398, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Montoro
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Xiangyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Jiyan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Yuwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zilong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Core Genomic Facility, Beijing Institute of Genomics, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Core Genomic Facility, Beijing Institute of Genomics, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Core Genomic Facility, Beijing Institute of Genomics, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Core Genomic Facility, Beijing Institute of Genomics, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: College of Agronomy, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
authors.forename: Nansheng
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Rizhong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Dejun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Core Genomic Facility, Beijing Institute of Genomics, CAS, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Shuangli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Chenji
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jixiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory, JM-USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Massachusetts 02111, USA.
authors.forename: Chao-Qiang
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Songnian
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3966-3111
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Rubber Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Danzhou 571737, China.
authors.forename: Huasun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D005030:Ethylenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018745:Genome, Plant; D028482:Hevea / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012408:Rubber / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005030:Ethylenes; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; D012408:Rubber; C036216:ethylene