Full-length transcriptome analysis and microsatellite marker development in Euonymus japonicus ‘Beihaidao’

A study of the cold-resistant evergreen boxwood Euonymus japonicus ‘Beihaidao’ used full-length transcriptome sequencing to generate transcript data and develop expressed sequence tag simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers. According to the study abstract, the researchers obtained 280,041 circular consensus reads, including 223,742 full-length non-chimeric sequences. Clustering and polishing produced 88,734 high-quality consensus isoforms, and redundancy analysis reduced these to 50,741 non-redundant transcript sequences.

The researchers successfully annotated 78,528 of the high-quality isoforms, representing 88.50% of the high-quality set. Analysis of the non-redundant transcripts identified 36,941 SSR loci across seven SSR types, with single-base repeats accounting for 51.56%. These results describe the transcriptome data and marker targets generated from E. japonicus ‘Beihaidao’; the abstract does not provide detailed information about the annotation databases, clustering criteria or sequence-polishing procedures used.

The researchers designed 200 EST-SSRs and selected 16 marker pairs that produced clear amplification bands, showed good polymorphism and had stable amplification. The selected markers were then used to cluster 22 Euonymus germplasm samples. According to the abstract, the markers amplified stably both among intraspecific accessions and in congeneric species, indicating effectiveness within the tested accessions and transferability across the tested genus-level samples. The abstract does not report the identities of all 22 samples, the number of accessions from each species or performance in populations beyond those tested.

The authors concluded that the full-length transcriptome sequence data and EST-SSR markers can support gene discovery, functional genomics, genetic-diversity analysis, germplasm evaluation, targeted breeding and conservation-biology research involving Euonymus. These are proposed applications rather than demonstrated outcomes of the present study. The available abstract reports marker development and limited germplasm testing, but it does not quantify breeding gains, establish conservation benefits or describe validation across a broad range of Euonymus germplasm.

Subject of Research: Full-length transcriptome sequencing and EST-SSR marker development in Euonymus japonicus ‘Beihaidao’

Article Title: Full-length transcriptome analysis and microsatellite marker development in Euonymus japonicus ‘Beihaidao’

Article References: Guo, L., Liao, T., Qu, K., & Liu, G. (2026). Full-length transcriptome analysis and microsatellite marker development in Euonymus japonicus ‘Beihaidao’. BMC Plant Biology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-026-09960-2

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12870-026-09960-2

Keywords: Euonymus japonicus, full-length transcriptome, single-molecule real-time sequencing, EST-SSR markers, microsatellites, germplasm, genetic diversity, functional genomics, targeted breeding, conservation biology, Full-length, transcriptome