Welcome to Chinese Agricultural Science Bulletin,

Chinese Agricultural Science Bulletin ›› 2022, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (9): 56-65.doi: 10.11924/j.issn.1000-6850.casb2021-0484

Special Issue: 生物技术 园艺

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The Latex Flow Mechanism in Rubber Tree (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.): A Review

SHI Minjing(), DING Huan, TIAN Weimin()   

  1. Rubber Research Institute, CATAS/Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Resources of Rubber Tree, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs/State Key Laboratory Incubation Base for Cultivation & Physiology of Tropical Crops, Haikou 570100
  • Received:2021-05-10 Revised:2021-08-13 Online:2022-03-25 Published:2022-04-02
  • Contact: TIAN Weimin E-mail:pzbsmjzifeng@163.com;wmtian@163.com

Abstract:

Rubber tree is the most important source for commercial natural rubber in the world, and latex flow is the last key step in the production of natural rubber. In order to obtain the latex output safely and efficiently, the study on the mechanism of latex flow has always been paid attention to. Laticifer is a tissue specific for natural rubber biosynthesis and storage in rubber tree. Usually, latex from laticifer is collected to refine natural rubber by tapping. The velocity and duration of latex flow after tapping are the crucial factors that determine the rubber yield, and are decided by the motivator and barrier from laticifer. In this paper, the cytological basis of laticifer, turgor pressure of laticifer as the primary driving force of latex flow, the water dilution reaction of latex as the relay driving force, and the formation and regulation of latex flow barrier in laticifer were summarized. The paper mainly analyzed the plug formation in laticifer and the main factors to regulate the plugging, and proposed that the laticifer plugging played a vital role in the cessation of latex flow. In view of the slow progress of present research, several topics were proposed: (1) the biosynthesis and regulation of bark lignin that related to the laticifer turgor pressure; (2) the gene expression and activity analysis of aquaporin that related to the water transportation; (3) the formation and regulation of the laticifer wound plug that related to the cessation of latex flow. The study will lay a foundation for illuminating the mechanism of latex flow and further provide valuable reference for selecting the fluent latex flow germplasm by molecular assisted breeding.

Key words: rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.), latex flow, turgor pressure, dilution reaction, laticifer plugging

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