As a new launched National Key R&D Program of China, the kick-off meeting of program “Development and Regulation of Economically Important Traits in Tropical Crops” was successfully held at Haikou from January 20th to 22th, 2019. The program was organized by Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, CATAS, in collaboration with other 22 institutions including Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Hainan University etc.. The program includes 5 projects and14 sub-projects. The regulatory network and keys genes related to production and quality in cassava, rubber tree, sugarcane, mango and pineapple will be explored through focusing on the key scientific questions of yield development and environmental adaptation. The genomes and databases of molecular breeding will be constructed by germplasm enhancement, modeling of important trait development and regulation in the tropical cash crops, mainly in cassava. These will provide the fundamental theories for efficiency breeding and cultivation of tropical crops in the future.

Prof. Peng Zhang reported the research plan for Sub-Project No. 5 “Cassava molecular design and germplasm improvement”. Dr. Qiuxiang Ma also attended the important event.