The lack of suitable early selection parameters means that traditional rubber breeding for yield is time consuming and inefficient. Laticifer is a tissue specific fo natural rubber biosynthesis and storage in rubber tree. The number of the secondary laticifers in the trunk bark tissues is positively correlated with rubber yield in the matured rubber trees that are regularly tapped. In the present study the rubber yield from 280 of 4–5 year-old virgin trees from7 cross combinations was compared with the number o newly differentiated secondary laticifers caused by tapping. Results showed that the number of tapping induced lines of secondary laticifers varied in differen germplasm and was positively related to the rubber yield indicating this could be used as a suitable parameter fo early evaluation of yield potential of rubber trees.
The secondary laticifer, a specific tissue in the secondary phloem of rubber tree, is differentiated from the vascular cambia. The number of the secondary laticifer in the trunk bark of rubber tree is positively correlated with rubber yield. Although jasmonates have been demonstrated to be crucial in the regulation of secondary laticifer differentiation, the mechanism for the jasmonate-induced secondary laticifer differentiation remains to be elucidated.By using an experimental morphological technique, the present study revealed that trichostatin A(TSA), an inhibitor of histone deacetylation, could induce the secondary laticifer differentiation in a concentrationdependent manner. The results suggest that histone acetylation is essential for the secondary laticifer differentiation in rubber tree.
