Natural rubber produced by Hevea brasiliensis is an essential industrial commodity. Rubber yield and latex physiology vary with tree age, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying stage-associated changes in latex protein expression remain elusive. This study presents a comprehensive proteomics dataset comparing latex from 10-year-old and 20-year-old trees across four H. brasiliensis clones (BPM24, GT1, PB260, and RRIC100). Latex proteins were analysed by high-resolution liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), identifying 6,690 proteins. Differential abundance analysis (log₂ fold change ≥ 0.5; adjusted P-value < 0.05) showed that 1,072 proteins differed significantly between age groups across all samples, with 360 higher and 712 lower in 20-year-old trees. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis highlighted stage-associated shifts in biological process, including lipid, carbohydrate, and aromatic amino acid metabolic process in 20-year-old trees. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified two modules significantly correlated with growth stage: a green module (r = −0.85, P = 1.7 × 10−7) enriched for vacuolar and protein transport, and a midnight blue module (r = 0.79, P = 5.1 × 10−6) enriched for hormone and carbohydrate metabolic process. Analysis of the natural rubber biosynthesis pathway further indicated stage-dependent shifts of enzymes, including hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase 2, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase, cis-prenyltransferase 1, rubber elongation factor 3 and phosphomevalonate kinase 2. This dataset provides a resource for understanding growth stage-related molecular variation in latex and identifying molecular targets linked to long-term yield stability and latex physiological status.

Abstract. Kamarudin NB, Aziz MA, Othman AS, Rosazlina R. 2025. Development and validation of novel microsatellite markers of a potentially invasive fern Dicranopteris linearis var. linearis. Biodiversitas 26: 46-54. Dicranopteris linearis is a forked fern native to Peninsular Malaysia. Recently, it has been recognized for its invasive potential in the ecosystem of Peninsular Malaysia due to its abundance, rapid spread, aggressive growth pattern, and competition for resources available to other native plants and crops. Despite its abundance and invasive potential, little is known about the potential domination mechanism and influence of genetic diversity on its establishment. Addressing this knowledge gap requires population genetic analysis, yet the fern has limited genomic information and molecular markers available. Hence, we aimed to develop novel microsatellite markers from D. linearis var. linearis using whole genome sequencing (WGS) data for preliminary population genetic analysis. Our analysis identified 879 simple sequence repeats (SSRs), predominantly trinucleotide repeats (AAC/GTT). Out of 462 primer pairs designed, 20 were randomly selected for validation, leading to eight markers verified as polymorphic across 30 tested individuals from the Batu Ferringhi population. These markers showed a moderate level of genetic variation (Na= 3.5, He= 0.4884) between individuals. Furthermore, these markers achieved successful amplification in six related species with transferability rates between 75% and 100%. The SSR markers developed in this study can be applied for future population-level studies to ascertain factors that may be driving diversity that enables the survival, adaption, and domination of the potentially invasive fern and its related species in the ecosystem of Peninsular Malaysia.

BACKGROUND:There are multiple species within the Hevea genus, each exhibiting distinct characteristics, but many remain underexplored due to their lower latex productivity. While Hevea brasiliensis is the primary source of natural rubber, other Hevea species represent valuable gene pools that could be leveraged in breeding programs to enhance latex yield, biosynthesis efficiency, and the physicochemical properties of latex. With increasing interest in enhancing natural rubber traits, these lesser-known species are being revisited for their underexplored genetic diversity. RESULTS:In this study, we performed a pangene analysis of 6 Hevea species and varieties, integrating proteomic and lipidomic data to investigate genetic and metabolic variation related to rubber biosynthesis and latex composition. The pangene analysis revealed conserved and expanded ATP-related functions, underscoring ATP's role in latex production. The proteomic data identified key enzymes involved in rubber biosynthesis and differentially abundant proteins related to latex regeneration, suggesting that regeneration capacity may influence yield efficiency. Lipidomic profiling uncovered species-specific lipid compositions associated with membrane dynamics and rubber particle stability, which may contribute to latex properties. CONCLUSIONS:These findings provide valuable insights into Hevea's genomic and metabolic diversity, supporting future breeding programs aimed at improving natural rubber production and its performance in various applications.

Abstract. Jasim JHM, Othman AS, Nordin FA, Talkah NSM. 2024. High-quality genomic DNA extraction methods of Yellow Spathoglottis Blume complex for next-generation sequencing. Biodiversitas 25: 654-663. Advancements in genomic research have spurred a growing interest in extracting high-quality genomic DNA, particularly from intricate plant species like the Yellow Spathoglottis Blume Complex. The preparation of genomic DNA high-quality from a plant sample is a crucial step for genomic and genetic analysis studies. A variety of genomic DNA extraction methods such as the traditional Hexadecyltrimethylammonium Bromide (CTAB) method and commercially available kits have been reported. Even so, they are either low purity and yield or costly. We develop a good-quality genomic DNA extraction method from fresh and dried leaves of the Yellow Spathoglottis Blume complex in Peninsular Malaysia, specifically tailored for Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) applications. Three DNA extraction methods were compared traditional CTAB, modified CTAB, and the DNeasy Qiagen plant mini kit methods. The yield and quality of extracted DNA were assessed by PCR amplification using nuclear ETS and ITS genes performed to evaluate the success of DNA extraction. Additionally, the suitability of the modified CTAB method for NGS library preparation and sequencing was tested. It demonstrated better PCR amplification results, yielding high-concentration bands for both ETS and ITS primers. Furthermore, the modified CTAB method proved suitable for high molecular weight DNA extraction, without contamination. The extracted DNA from Spathoglottis aurea exhibited high molecular weight and passed the quality control assessment for NGS library preparation. Sequencing results demonstrated an average quality score of 36.0, with an accurate base call rate of approximately 99.9%. The developed method enables reliable genomic analysis and sequencing of the Yellow Spathoglottis Blume complex, contributing to further research and understanding of this species group.

The yellow-flowered Spathoglottis aurea (tribe Collabieae; family Orchidaceae) is native to the mountainous areas of Peninsular Malaysia. The species is well known as an ornamental plant and for its role in artificial hybrid breeding. There is an interesting evolutionary relationship between S. aurea and the geographically isolated S. microchilina from Borneo that has encouraged further study of the S. aurea populations, but the genomic resource for S. aurea has not yet been reported. The present study reports the first work to characterize a chloroplast (cp) genome among the Spathoglottis genus. The complete cp genome of S. aurea was assembled from a sequence generated by the Illumina platform and analysed in comparison with other Collabieae species available in the GenBank database. The cp genome of S. aurea is 157,957 base pairs (bp) in length with guanine-cytosine (GC) content of 37.3%. The genome possessed a typical quadripartite cp genome structure with large single-copy (LSC) (86,888 bp), small single-copy (SSC) (18,125 bp) and inverted repeat (IR) (26,472 bp) sequences. A total of 134 genes were annotated, with 88 protein coding genes (PCGs), 38 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes and eight ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. Overall, 80 simple sequence repeats (SSR) or microsatellites were identified. Comparative analysis with other Collabieae species revealed high conservation in the cp genome arrangements with minimal difference in genome lengths. However, several mutational hotspots were also detected, with high potential to be developed as genetic markers for phylogenetic analysis. Characterization of the S. aurea cp genome revealed its conserved nature without gene loss or rearrangements when compared to other species of the Collabieae tribe. Phylogenetic analysis of Collabieae species also revealed that S. aurea has a distant evolutionary relationship to other members of the Collabieae species, despite the presence of problematic genera such as Phaius and Cephalantheropsis.

Background The chloroplast genome has the potential to be genetically engineered to enhance the agronomic value of major crops. As a crop plant with major economic value, it is important to understand every aspect of the genetic inheritance pattern among Elaeis guineensis individuals to ensure the traceability of agronomic traits. Methods Two parental E. guineensis individuals and 23 of their F1 progenies were collected and sequenced using the next-generation sequencing (NGS) technique on the Illumina platform. Chloroplast genomes were assembled de novo from the cleaned raw reads and aligned to check for variations. The sequences were compared and analyzed with programming language scripting and relevant bioinformatic softwares. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci were determined from the chloroplast genome. Results The chloroplast genome assembly resulted in 156,983 bp, 156,988 bp, 156,982 bp, and 156,984 bp. The gene content and arrangements were consistent with the reference genome published in the GenBank database. Seventy-eight SSRs were detected in the chloroplast genome, with most located in the intergenic spacer region.The chloroplast genomes of 17 F1 progenies were exact copies of the maternal parent, while six individuals showed a single variation in the sequence. Despite the significant variation displayed by the male parent, all the nucleotide variations were synonymous. This study show highly conserve gene content and sequence in Elaeis guineensis chloroplast genomes. Maternal inheritance of chloroplast genome among F1 progenies are robust with a low possibility of mutations over generations. The findings in this study can enlighten inheritance pattern of Elaeis guineensis chloroplast genome especially among crops’ scientists who consider using chloroplast genome for agronomic trait modifications.

To date, documentation of the diversity of orchids from the limestone hills in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia, particularly in the states of Kedah and Perak, is still lacking, with limited literature available. There is indeed an urgent need to fill this knowledge gap, so that proper documentation of the diversity of orchids from this unique karst habitat can be prepared. In this study, a series of 12 months of diversity assessments on five limestone hills in Kedah and Perak has resulted in the discovery of 56 orchid species from 37 genera. From this account, 12 species are new records within Kedah and 2 species are new records within Malaysia, namely Bulbophyllum meson J.J.Verm., Schuit. & de Vogel and Luisia brachystachys (Lindl.) Blume. Three species are endemic to Peninsular Malaysia which are Anoectochilus sanguineus P.T.Ong & P.O'Byrne, Cheirostylis goldschmidtiana Schltr. and Phalaenopsis appendiculata Carr. Findings of two keystone species, the long-lost Cheirostylis goldschmidtiana and the endangered snow-white slipper orchid, Paphiopedilum niveum (Rchb.f.) Stein, have catalyzed the need for a more comprehensive study to unveil the species richness and endemism within a limestone habitat. Heat maps using geographical data produced from ArcGIS software have enabled precise determination of the areas with the highest concentration of orchid diversity. Results from this study have shown that Gunung Fakir Terbang houses the greatest number of orchid species, followed by Gunung Batu Putih and Gunung Baling. Meanwhile, lower species occurrences were recorded from Gunung Pulai and Gunung Pong. However, lack of attention and delayed conservation action on this unique karst habitat would only lead to more habitat loss, leading to the decline of limestone orchid populations. Orchids as well as other plants are threatened by anthropogenic activity such as quarrying and forest clearing for agriculture. Thus, the results of this study will serve as baseline data for future work in documenting and conserving limestone orchids and their karst habitat in northern Peninsular Malaysia.

Seventy-two morphological characters and three ecological characteristics were measured to assess variation and phylogenetic relationships among twelve species and three infraspecific taxa of the genus Spathoglottis from Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. The morphological analyses divided Spathoglottis into two main groups based on the colours of the flower: Purple-Flowered Spathoglottis and Yellow-Flowered Spathoglottis. Species within the two groupings were further classified based on the size of the plants (Large/Dwarf Purple Spathoglottis and Large/Dwarf Yellow Spathoglottis) and the shapes of the labellum (spathulate, bilobulate or narrow/thread–like). The selected morphological characters appeared to support the taxonomic boundaries between two mostly debated taxa in the genus, S. aurea and S. microchilina.

Since the 1950s, the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) has significantly contributed to Malaysia's agricultural economy due to its capability to produce high-value natural rubber. Due to the presence of cis-1,4-polyisoprene, natural rubber exhibits unique properties such as flexibility, high elasticity, and efficient heat dispersion. Cis-1,4-polyisoprene is synthesized via two distinct metabolic pathways: the isoprenoid and rubber biosynthesis. RNA sequencing was performed on 12 specimens from the bark, leaf, and latex tissues of two rubber clones, RRIM 3001 (high latex yield) and RRIM 712 (low latex yield). After quality assessment, these specimens generated a mean of 73,816,244 clean reads. The differential expression analysis revealed that the Acetyl-CoA-Acetyltransferase (AACT) and Diphosphomevalonate Decarboxylase (MVD) genes (via the MVA pathway), as well as the Small Rubber Particle Protein (SRPP) and Rubber Elongation Factor (REF) genes (via the rubber biosynthesis pathway), were overexpressed in the bark, leaf, and latex tissues of RRIM 3001 compared to RRIM 712. The transcription factor Ethylene Response Factor (ERF) was also found to be more highly expressed in RRIM 3001 than in RRIM 712. Five rubber clones with random yield characteristics were used in quantitative amplification analysis to validate AACT, MVD, SRPP, REF, and ERF genes. The quantitative analysis shows that the five genes were consistently expressed with the yield characteristics of the five random rubber clones.

Phylogenetic relationships of the orchid genus Spathoglottis (Orchidaceae: Collabieae) in Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo were inferred using the internal transcribed spacer of a nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrITS), a plastid gene maturaseK (matK) and the plastid region trnL-F. Eleven species and three infraspecific taxa of Spathoglottis were examined, with two outgroup species, were included in the phylogenetic analysis. The combined plastid and nuclear data revealed Spathoglottis as monophyletic. From the maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses, Spathoglottis is divided into four major groups which are, (1) the Dwarf Purple Spathoglottis, (2) the Dwarf Yellow Spathoglottis, (3) the Large Purple Spathoglottis, and (4) the Large Yellow Spathoglottis. The split in the Dwarf and Large Spathoglottis groups might reflect an early differentiation of plant size, flower colours and flower size. Phylogeny reconstruction of the orchid genus Spathoglottis also exhibited strong support towards the taxonomic delimitation of the two mostly debated taxa in the genus, S. aurea and S. microchilina.

We present a reassessment of the genus Barclaya. This includes description, typification and distribution in tropical SE Asia of the eight species recognized. The two long time known and accepted species, B. longifolia and B. motleyi. The identity of B. rotundifolia has been clarified. Two species, B. hirta and B. kunstleri have been resurrected. Additionally, three new species, B. panchorensis, B. rugosa and B. wellyi are described. A chromosome number of 2n = 36 has been ascertained for all studied Barclaya species. The habitats are described, and their conservation status given. For each species, its habitat is described, and its conservation status given. Finally, six of the species have been found to be night‐blooming.

The aquatic plant genus Cryptocoryne, a popular plant genus in the aquarium industry, is made up of more than 50 described species and some 15 naturally occurring named and unnamed interspecific hybrids. Cryptocoryne elliptica has a restricted distribution in the north part of Peninsular Malaysia. Destruction of its natural habitats for various human activities has led to a decline in numbers. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome of C. elliptica and establish a molecular dataset for a maternally inherited genome. Here, we utilized an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 protocol to sequence the partial genome of C. elliptica and used bioinformatic tools to reconstruct the chloroplast genome in de novo mode. The assembled chloroplast genome is a circular DNA molecule 159,968 bp in length. The chloroplast genome has a quadripartite structure composed of a large single-copy region of 96,273 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 15,205 bp, separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRa and IRb), each of which is 24,245 bp. The chloroplast genome of C. elliptica encodes a total of 108 genes, comprising 74 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes and 4 rRNA genes. In total, 204 SSR loci were identified, most of which were located within intergenic regions.

Blast disease caused by Pyricularia oryzae is one of the most destructive fungal diseases of rice in Malaysia. Utilisation of resistant varieties is the most efficient management approach towards reducing yield losses. The line IRTP21683 with the Pi9 gene has shown strong resistance against the isolate MPO988.3 of pathotype P0.0, the most prevalent P. oryzae pathotype in Malaysia. Crossing of IRTP21683 was undertaken with the recurrent parent MR220, a susceptible elite Malaysian rice variety, using a marker assisted backcrossing technique with two simple sequence repeat markers, RM19776 and RM7311, as the tag for the Pi9 gene. Twenty BC3F4 lines with the Pi9 gene were resistant when challenged with MPO 988.3. The cluster analysis based on seven agronomic parameters showed that the resistant BC3F4 lines could be divided into four groups, of which the members in group 1 and 2 have shown comparable or better performance than MR220. Five lines in group 1, B220PI9-3-48, B220PI9-3-76, B220PI9-3-77, B220PI9-3-79 and B220PI9-3-82 showed outstanding yield performance with early maturation.

The Hevea brasiliensis or rubber tree belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family and is the only economically viable natural rubber source worldwide. The development of enhanced rubber tree clones with agronomically important traits is critical due to the growing demand for natural rubber around the world. Throughout the years, numerous disease-causing pathogens of H. brasiliensis have been identified and studied. One of the more prominent diseases affecting H. brasiliensis is powdery mildew caused by Oidium heveae. Oidium heveae primarily infects the newly formed leaves and buds of H. brasiliensis. Severe Oidium heveae infections cause extensive defoliation and yield loss. We performed RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) for healthy and O. heveae-infected leaf tissues from RRIM 2025 and RRIM 929 rubber tree clones using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. RNA-Seq generated 92007684 (12.9 GB) and 96070286 (13.5 GB) paired raw reads for healthy H. brasiliensis clones RRIM 2025 and RRIM 929 respectively. Similarly, RNA-Seq generated 93747858 (13.2 GB) and 93324564 (13.1 GB) paired raw reads for disease-infected H. brasiliensis clones RRIM 2025 and RRIM 929 respectively. The raw data were deposited in the NCBI under bio-project accession number PRJNA723431. The raw reads were quality trimmed and the reference-based transcriptome assembly was generated using the H. brasiliensis genome (ASM165405v1). The data were used to identify between the significantly differentially expressed genes of the healthy and diseased samples.

The taxonomic diversity of penaeid shrimps from the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia was investigated based on morphometric and molecular approaches. For geometric morphometrics (GM) approach, eighteen homologous landmarks were analyzed with principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical variate analysis (CVA) in Morpho J software. The morphological variations among species were attributed to body shape, rostrum, carapace head, and telson. The first four components accounted for 87.27% in the PCA, while for CVA, the first three components contributed to 78.47%. Although not absolute, there is a tendency for closely related species to cluster together. The CVA analyses clearly differentiated Metapenaeopsis stridulans, Megokris sedili, Metapenaeus brevicornis and Mierspenaeopsis sculptilis into discrete clusters, and highlighted the closeness of the groups; Mierspenaeopsis sculptilis - M. hardwickii, Penaeus merguiensis - P. semisulcatus, Metapenaeus affinis - M. dobsoni - M. ensis, and Penaeus monodon - P. pulchricaudatus. Molecular phylogeny among these species of penaeid shrimp were examined using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences. Geometric morphometric analyses revealed shape overlap among the 12 shrimp species, yet significant differences were also detected. The morphometric and molecular multispecies analyses were largely in agreement. The phylogenetic signal was assessed by mapping the morphometric data onto three phylogenetic trees (Neighbour Joining-NJ, Maximum Likelihood-ML, and Bayesian Inference-BI) generated from the partial mitochondrial COI on the same 12 species. Results revealed non-significance (no phylogenetic signal) for NJ but significant phylogenetic signals (evolutionary significance) for ML and BI, suggesting that the shape difference among the penaeid shrimp species investigated was related to their evolutionary history. The NJ tree is prone to errors when dealing with deeper divergence times, whereas ML and BI trees are ideal for phylogeny tree reconstruction, which applies a model of sequence evolution on the data.

Recent morphometric analysis on T. glis in Peninsular Malaysia indicates that there were more than one morphotypes in this species. Thus this study attempts to examine this phenomenon using mitochondrial DNA sequences of Cyt b and CO1 genes. A total of 74 DNA sequences for both genes were generated using available universal primers. Samples from Southern Thailand were found to be misidentified as T. glis when in fact these samples clustered with T. belangeri while one T. tana from Borneo was miss-identified as T. minor. The phylogenetic trees showed that there are at least one confirmed morphotype of Tupaia (new Tupaia sp.) that have yet to be described. The results also showed that the separation of T. glis morphotype 1 and 11 were visible in the combined genes tree, congruent with the morphometric phylogeny but had poor phylogenetic support.

Hevea brasiliensis (the rubber tree) is a well-known species with high economic value, and it is the primary source of natural rubber globally. Increasing demand for furniture and related industries has made rubberwood production as important as latex production. Molecular markers such as Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) are widely used for Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) which can be detected in large quantity by transcriptome sequencing. MAS is thought to be a useful method for the development of new rubberwood clones for its shorter breeding cycle compared to a conventional breeding procedure. In this study we performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) on four H. brasiliensis clones (RRIM 712, RRIM 2025, RRIM 3001 and PB 314) from three tissues including bark, latex and leaf samples to identify SSRs and SNPs associated with wood-formation related genes. The RNA sequencing using the Illumina NextSeq 500 v2 platform, generated 1,697,491,922 raw reads. A total of 101,269 transcripts over 400 bp in size were obtained and similarity search of the non-redundant (nr) protein database returned 83,748 (83%) positive BLASTx hits. The transcriptome analysis was annotated using the NCBI NR (National Center for Biotechnology Information Non-Redundant), UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, gene ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases. Differential expression analysis between later-timber rubber clone and non-later-timber rubber clone on wood-formation related genes, showed genes encoding phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (COMT) and cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR) were highly up-regulated in a latex-timber rubber clone. In total, about 3,210,629 SNPs and 14,956 SSRs were detected with 1,786 SNPs and 31 SSRs were found for wood-formation biosynthesis of H. brasilensis from 11 lignin and cellulose gene toolboxes. After filtering and primer selection, 103 SNPs and 18 SSR markers were successfully amplified and could be useful as molecular tool for marker assisted breeding to produce new timber rubber clones.

A comprehensive assessment on the orchid flora of Gunung Ledang, Johor, Malaysia was carried out from 2012 to 2018 with the aim to re-evaluate the presence of orchid species listed by Ridley in his “Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 35:1–28”, published in 1901, after more than 100 years. The relevant account for comparison is also listed, noting that Ridley’s historical collections were for the isolated group of hills commonly known as Gunung Ledang (Mount Ophir), while the collated item in Orchidaceae is part of catalogues for the whole of Peninsular Malaysia. After Ridley, no account on the orchid flora of Gunung Ledang has been properly given, particularly from the uppermost peak of the mountain, where many interesting plants and orchids are to be found there. This study identified 26 species or 67% were the same as those recorded by Ridley (1901), and 65 species or 83% of Turner (1995) checklist of 270 species of orchids for the state of Malacca and Johor, including the common and widespread species to Peninsular Malaysia. By contribution, this paper provides an updated account on the diversity of orchids in Gunung Ledang, listing 122 species of orchids, of which eight are endemic to Peninsular Malaysia, two are hyper-endemic known only from Gunung Ledang, and 30 were recognised as new records. A comparison table of the current findings against Ridley (1901) and Turner (1995) is provided which shows only 16 species were the same in all three studies.

A population genetics study of the commercially important Green Tiger Prawn (Penaeus semisulcatus) was conducted in the Indo-Pacific Ocean with a focus on the Indo-Malay Archipelago waters of the South China Sea (SCS), Sulu Sea (SLS), Celebes Sea (CLS) and the Strait of Malacca (SOM), the latter being the main waterway that connects the Indian Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. A 548-base-pair region of mitochondrial COI and 571 base pairs of the control region (CR) were analysed in 284 specimens from 15 locations. Genetic divergences (Tamura 3-parameter) for COI ranged from 0.1% to 7.2% and CR 2.3% to 21.7%, with Bagan Pasir (BGP) in central SOM being the most genetically different from other populations (COI: 3.3-4.2%; CR: 7.1-16.5%). All populations were differentiated into two lineages with a genetic break in the vicinity of BGP; Lineage I comprised populations south of this site (SCS, SLS, CLS and part of SOM) and Lineage II comprised populations north of BGP (part of the SOM). Specifically, most individuals of Bagan Pasir (BGP) and another site just south of it, Batu Pahat (BPT), clustered in Lineage I, while all SOM populations to the north of these sites clustered in Lineage II. The BGP population is believed to be a mixed gene pool between the two lineages. The results could be attributed to the fluctuations of Pleistocene sea levels and a possible influence of the One Fathom Bank in SOM. High genetic diversity was recorded, π (Lineage I: COI: 3.4%; CR: 7.4%) (Lineage II: COI: 3.8%; CR: 12.6%) and, h (Lineage I: COI: 0.81; CR: 1.0) (Lineage II: COI: 0.57; CR: 0.99). Demographic statistics revealed that both lineages underwent a sudden expansion and consequent stabilisation in genetic variability. The findings of this study have wide implications for fisheries in the Indo-Pacific. The increased sampling effort within a narrower geographical scale by the current study permitted a precise locality of the genetic break for this species within the Indo-Pacific Ocean to be identified. The substantial genetic diversity within both lineages should be considered in fishery management and aquaculture development programs of this species in this region.

Hevea brasiliensis commonly known as the rubber tree is a perennial cross-pollinating and monoecious plant that belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family and native to the Amazon rainforest. Natural rubber produced by H.brasiliensis is one of the most important polymers which provide the major industrial raw material. Rubber in the form of latex is consist of cis-1,4-polyisoprene, proteins, and fatty acids. The natural rubber has special properties such as flexibility, high elasticity, and efficient heat dispersion due to the presence of cis-1,4-polyisoprene. These unique properties have increased their economic value and made natural rubber widely use in more than 40,000 products which can be exploited to contribute to the agricultural economy of Malaysia. In this review, the natural rubber biosynthesis of Hevea brasiliensis is discussed. The rubber industry has been a pillar of the Malaysian economy since the 1950s and continues to be a major contributor until the present day. The contribution of the natural rubber industry to the Malaysian economy is increasing year by year. Since Malaysia as the world's fifth-biggest producer of natural rubber in the world, the development and impact of the rubber industry on the economy are very important to be highlighted.