Combined growth index determination and high-throughput sequencing provides new insights into wood formation in poplar

Wood is the raw material used in the production of paper and building materials. It also plays an important role in human productivity and survival. However, the regulatory mechanisms of wood formation remain unclear in woody plants. In this study, we selected two poplar clones with different growth rates from the same full-sib family and performed SMRT and Illumina sequencing. We obtained 218,439 consensus reads and 50.73 G Illumina clean reads for subsequent analysis. A total of 4032 novel genes, 6587 alternatively spliced (AS) genes, 34,895 AS events, and 3602 long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were identified. Moreover, 2545 genes, 89 lncRNAs, and 554 AS events were found to be differentially expressed in the two clones. Furthermore, we found that 56 and 38 genes involved in wood formation could undergo alternative polyadenylation (APA) and AS, respectively. In addition, 377 lncRNAs have the potential to regulate wood formation. This study reveals potential factors that regulate wood formation at the transcriptional level and provides new insights into wood formation.