Transcriptome Analysis of Pinus Species

Whole young leaves were collected from Pinus taeda, Pinus elliottii, and Pinus massoniana at the Forestry Science Institute of Yingde (Guangdong, China) and the Hongling seed orchard of Taishan (Guangdong, China). Collected leaves were stored at -20 °C until RNA extraction. Three 8-year-old P. taeda trees, with a similar growth state and free of pests and diseases were selected for sampling. The leaf buds, needles, twigs, trunk phloem, and roots were collected separately from each tree at the same time during the blooming period. Total RNA was extracted from different tissues of Pinus taeda using the TIANGEN RNAsecure Plant Kit (Beijing, China) following the manufacturer’s instructions. Sequencing libraries were prepared with insert sizes of 200 bp and sequenced using an Illumina HiSeq 4000 platform.