Environmental factors have a major effect in shaping the gene expression of Larix sibirica Ledeb. in Altai region

The differentiation of gene expression is an important link between genotype and phenotype and has important contributions to species adaptation and ecosystem evolution. As a major component of the world's forests, boreal forests play an important role in regulating the global climate, and their phenology has been and is undergoing changes during global warming. Here, to understand the impact of global warming on gene expression in boreal forest species, we used PacBio and Illumina sequencing methods to study the transcriptome of natural populations of Siberian larch from the Altai Mountains in Xinjiang, China and found that environmental factors, especially temperature, has dominate effects on genes expression, while the contribution of genetic variation is relatively small. We speculate that larch adapts to changes in temperature and precipitation by altering its own gene expression. These results not only predict the tolerance of boreal forests to higher temperatures in the future, but also inform forest management strategies under global climate change.