Recently, the international academic authoritative journal Nature Plant published the cooperative research results of Tang Chaorong's team from the rubber Institute of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences and Hu Songnian's team from the Beijing Genomics Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This research obtained a high-quality rubber tree reference genome, and put forward a new viewpoint of rubber species evolution and ethylene stimulated gum production.

It is reported that natural rubber is an important strategic material and industrial raw material in China. However, why can rubber trees produce high yields of rubber? Is this characteristic related to environmental adaptation and evolution? Why can ethylene treatment in production significantly increase rubber production? These important theoretical issues have been pending. To this end, the rubber Institute and the Genome Institute jointly launched the rubber tree genome sequencing project. After more than five years of unremitting efforts and joint research, the team members successfully constructed a high-quality rubber genome map, identified more than 43000 protein coding genes, and expounded the reasons why ethylene stimulated rubber production from the source.

It is reported that this major breakthrough will greatly promote the research on the biology of rubber production of rubber producing plants, and lay a good foundation for the excavation and utilization of excellent germplasm of rubber trees and the genetic improvement of high yield, high quality and stress resistance.