Hongpeng Wang , Minghua Li , Shiying Yu

Biotechnology Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, China
Author    Correspondence author
Tree Genetics and Molecular Breeding, 2025, Vol. 15, No. 6   
Received: 28 Sep., 2025    Accepted: 04 Oct., 2025    Published: 17 Nov., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This study collated the main physiological and molecular responses of silver birch when exposed to low temperatures, summarized the molecular adaptation mechanisms of silver birch to photoperiodic changes, discussed the natural selection evidence of candidate adaptation genes such as PHYC, FRS10, and ARR1, and indicated that these genes are related to the environmental adaptation of silver birch in different regions. It also revealed the interaction between cold signals and photoperiodic signals. Research has found that at low temperatures, silver birch trees protect themselves by stabilizing cell membranes, regulating osmotic pressure, and enhancing antioxidant capacity, and many cold response genes are also activated. Photoreceptors, biological clock-related genes, and the rhythm genes they regulate such as FT and GH17 all play significant roles in the formation of dormancy and the initiation of germination. Both cold signals and photoperiodic signals can affect hormone pathways and transcriptional regulatory networks, and jointly determine the growth rhythm, dormancy process and cold resistance of silver birch. This study aims to provide a reference for the molecular breeding of silver birch and also offer a theoretical basis for enhancing its adaptability in the context of climate change.

Silver birch (Betula pendula); Cold tolerance; Photoperiod adaptation; Genomic and regulatory networks; Multi-omics and molecular breeding